GCB senior Inter County tournament to bowl off next month
The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) will stage its Senior Inter-County tournament next month.
According to a release from the GCB, the tournament will be held from October 9 to October 15.
The tournament, which has not be held for the past five years, was played annually for decades until the introduction of a local franchise league during the 2014/2015 season, the GCB release stated. According to the release, the current executives of the GCB have incorporated the tournament into the GCB’s five-year strategic plan, with the Senior InterCounty matches being placed under the competition component of cricket development.
“Though International players generally earn their spots on the respective national teams, availability, and performances in coveted Inter-County tournaments have been promoted as the primary means for national selection,” the release stated.
The Senior Inter-County tournament was considered first-class cricket.
“The GCB can ill afford to play franchise leagues in place of the Inter-County Tournament,” said GCB president Bissoondyal Singh.
Both the Cricket Administration Act, 2014, and the constitution of the Guyana Cricket Board give the County boards supremacy over other Cricket Associations, Committees, and potential legal franchises. As a result, the GCB holds the view that Senior Inter-County Cricket must be played annually regardless of the existence of additional tournaments which can be used to feed players into the coveted Inter-County tournament.
“It is against this backdrop that we have outlined in our five-year Strategic
Plan the need to conduct Inter-County championship tournaments for all levels of cricket where there are CWI Regional Tournaments. Our aim at the GCB is to administer cricket in an impartial manner, giving opportunities to all those who participate in the game across the depth and breadth of Guyana,” Singh stated.
“As the president of GCB, I am proud to announce that Senior Inter-County Cricket will return to our competition structure from October 9, 2022. I reiterate that Senior Inter-County Cricket tournament is here to stay. It will be an annual feature and aspiring senior cricketers will have another avenue to showcase their skills and abilities with a view of donning national colors with pride,” Singh added.
The final of the GCB One-Day 50 overs tournament will be played at the Albion Community Centre ground under floodlights.