The annual Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA)/New York Tri-State Under-19 tournament is in jeopardy following a nationwide lockdown in Guyana and the United States as a result of the global Coronavirus pandemic.
The highly anticipated tournament would usually feature the New York Tri-State Under-19 team which tours Guyana as part of their development thrust in April.
The visitors are the current defending champions; they won the 2019 edition of the tournament by defeating the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) by eight wickets at the Everest Cricket Club ground April last.
However, the New York-based side title defence now seems in doubt.
“As you would know we normally host the Tri-State Under – 19 team from New York but they are unable to come because their flights were cancelled and also due to Coronavirus.
“So, they couldn’t come because of the COVID – 19 and the airways closing off,” Chairman of the Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA) competition committee Shaun Massiah told Stabroek Sport.
However, all is not lost and the tournament which is a critical part of GCA’s calendar to identify talent, may still be possible later in the year depending on the success of world health officials to realize a vaccine for the virus.
Should life return to normalcy by year-end, Massiah disclosed that the Tri-State officials are keen to shift the tour to a later date.
“They are asking us if we can accommodate the tour in December and we discussed that at the GCA level but we don’t know if the weather is going to be kind to us along with other considerations.
“So, we are still to make a final decision. The availability of flights is another issue,” the GCA official said.
