Guyana Jaguars three-day Franchise League kicks off Saturday
In what is rapidly becoming known as the country’s most prominent cricket championships, the Jaguars Franchise League, which has three components to its structure, will commence its three-day format on Saturday at four venues across the country.
Cricket enthusiasts on the Corentyne of Berbice, West Berbice, Georgetown and West Demerara will witness its exciting opening round where a number of the country’s leading and talented cricketers will compete for places on the Guyana Jaguars Four-Day team set to commence the defence of its Regional title October 26th on local soil.
The Jaguars have won the first three championships of the Regional Four-Day Professional Cricket League.
This year’s league will involve the splendid mix of a number of Guyana’s leading, talented and promising players and will, at times, involve three players who are currently contracted directly with CWI, namely Devendra Bishoo, Shimron Hetymer and Vishual Singh.
Fifteen other players, contracted under the Cricket West Indies (CWI)/Cricket Guyana Inc. (CGI) Professional Cricket League structure and 13 CGI Academy Players are likely to be sent to established franchises which are represented under the names of Upper Corentyne, Lower Corentyne, West Berbice, East Coast Demerara, Georgetown, Upper Demerara/ East Bank, West Demerara and Essequibo.
Anthony Bramble will appear for Upper Corentyne; Veerasammy Permaul for Lower Corentyne; fast bowler Keon Joseph and left-arm spinner, Gudakesh Motie will strengthen West Berbice while East Coast will include Rajendra Chandrika.
Chanderpaul Hemraj will appear for East Coast Demerara with Leon Johnson, Christopher Barnwell and the Jamaican batsman Ramaal Lewis boosting Georgetown.
Steven Jacobs and Under-19 pacer Ronaldo Ali Mohammed will join Upper Demerara/East Bank with fast bowling allrounder Romario Shepherd, all-rounder Raymon Reifer and opening batsman Tagenarine Chanderpaul advancing the claims of a strong West Demerara side.
Essequibo will showcase rising star Keemo Paul and wicket keeper Kemol Savory, who are also likely to benefit from the expertise of Shivnarine Chanderpaul based on his availability.
The eight (8) Franchise teams will also be complemented by CGI Academy players all of whom will be keen to compete for national places in the 2017/2018 CWI Regional Four-Day PCL. The Academy players’ allocation will see Essequibo having Anthony Adams and Kevon Boodie with West Demerara featuring Akshaya Persaud and Richie Looknauth while Upper Demerara/East Bank will be fitted with promising all-rounder Sherfane Rutherford. Georgetown will benefit from the top under 19 player Raymond Perez and opening batsman Robin Bacchus and promising youth player, wicket-keeper batsman Joshua Persaud. West Indies Youth sensation and opening batsman Bhaskar Yadram will don whites for East Coast Demerara while fast bowlers Raun Johnson and Clinton Pestano will represent Lower Corentyne and Upper Corentyne respectively.
This year’s Jaguars three-day league will showcase young players through a special ruling that mandates each of the eight Franchise teams to play at least one Under-19 player, who meets the age eligibility requirement to play in the next 2018 CWI Regional Under-19 tournament. In addition, the league is likely to witness the involvement of other talented and promising national youth players.
The Jaguars three-day league will witness seven rounds of high-level cricket action commencing Saturday and ending October 17 with CWI, CWI/CGI, CGI Academy, National players and domestic Franchise players all vying for senior national selection. A complete fixture and team list will be released shortly.