Heavy rainfall yesterday ruled out play on the opening day of the final round of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Senior Inter-County Four-Day Competition.
According to the organisers there will be no play today either and the possibility of play on the two remaining days of the competition tomorrow and Wednesday will depend entirely on the weather.
Yesterday the two venues scheduled to stage matches were waterlogged.
Over at the Uitvlugt ground defending champs Demerara trailing the GCB President’s XI by three points would have been ruing the weather while the struggling Essequibo side might who were down to take on the red –hot Berbice side might be glad for the respite.
The second round which recently ended saw Demerara on 12 points and the President XI on 15 points. Demerara scored one victory against Essequibo but lost to Berbice, while the President’s XI triumphed over Essequibo and collected from their drawn encounter against Berbice.
Powerhouse Berbice sit at the top of the points table with 18 points after their outright victory against Demerara (12 points) and first innings points against the President’s XI (6 points).
Needing one more win to dethrone the defending champs Demerara, Berbice is in the more favourable position as they take on an Essequibo side which has lost twice.
All-rounder Royston Crandon has been the most outstanding player on the Berbice side scoring an unbeaten century against the President’s XI and falling a few runs short of his second against Demerara. Jonathan Foo, who made a half-century in the first round, former West Indies opener Sewnarine Chattergoon, West Indies ‘A’ batsman Assad Fudadin and
Leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo have all been responsible for the team’s position.
The struggling Essequibo players have been relying heavily on opener Rayan Fredericks, skipper Anthony Adams, Kevon Boodie and Dillon Heyliger.
The big disappointment has been the performance of the Demerara team which boasts former West Indies middle order batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan.
Sarwan, however, has been unable to score heavily and the key players have been Leon Johnson, Christopher Barnwell and Trevon Griffith who have all gotten good starts but will need to convert those starts into big scores in this important encounter.
On the other hand, spinners Amir Khan and Zaheer Mohamed have been magical with the ball during the previous rounds.
The President’s XI skipper Vishal Singh has been the backbone of the team scoring a few half-centuries and an even century against Berbice on the last day while former Test batsman Ryan Ramdass, opener Robin Bacchus, wicket-keeper Jason Sinclair and all-rounder Shaquille Williams have all been vital performers over the past two rounds hitting half-centuries.
The President’s XI fast-bowlers led by Andre Stoll have been taking wickets while spinners Collis Butts and Steven Sankar have been consistent and economical. Umpires Matthew Kissoon and Zaheer Mohamed will officiate at the match at Uitvlugt ground with Sukhdeo being the standby. At the Everest ground, Umpires Nigel Duguid and Colin Alfred will take the field while Shannon Crawford will be the Standby.
In collaboration with the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), this competition is sponsored by the Hand-In-Hand Group of Companies and the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company.
