The Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) is expected to be fully behind the staging of the National Cricket League by the Guyana Cricket Board.
Recently the GCB announced that it was scrapping the annual Inter-County tournament in favour of an eight team league.
According to a source close to the BCB, while the BCB was disappointed with the scrapping of the Inter-county tournament, full support will be given to their players and the National Cricket League.
“We would never do anything to hamper the chances of our cricketers so we (BCB) think the league is good, but Inter-County should remain a crucial part of the country’s cricket set up,” the source said.
The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB)/Cricket Guyana Inc. (CGI) recently confirmed that the league, which is expected to be launched in a few months’ time, will cover the basis of all formats of cricket and will serve as ideal preparation for the Regional Super 50, Four Day and the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) T20 tournaments.
However, the BCB’s source said that Inter-County should remain in effect as it has been a part of Guyana’s cricket over the years. He admitted, however, that when the league is set up it will expose more players and as such it should be a national competition where players who perform well are picked for inter-county, which was described as the “Ultimate benchmark for cricket in Guyana.”
“Berbice will support the league but boards should select the players and teams which make fall under their respective demographic jurisdiction,” said the source adding that the league should be used as a build up to inter county.
Highlighting the possible challenges of running off such a high-profile league, the source said no Inter-County cricket, takes away a player’s pride to make a county team, while financially it will cost more to sustain an endeavor of such magnitude in comparison to Inter-County.
On a more positive note, the source said that the BCB believes that financially, more Guyanese cricketers players will be able to earn a living from the tournament as well as maintain their form and fitness as well as placing themselves in contention to possibly be the next Guyanese cricketer.
