The Guyana Cricket Board in collaboration with Tropical Spring will bowl off its T20 Over 40 Tournament on Saturday (November 21) from 09:30 hours across the three counties. The designated grounds for Demerara will be the Everest and Enmore cricket grounds, whereby, Berbice’s matches will be played at Jai Hind ground, with the Essequibo-leg of matches played at Imam Bacchus ground. The tournament will be the first competition, since the GCB was forced to halt its cricket activities due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a consequence, the players of the GCB Tropical Spring T20 Over 40 Tournament, will have both the privilege and responsibility to engage in an integrative activity geared at facilitating a smooth return to cricket competition and other outdoor cricket activities.
The tournament which involves 16 teams will have eight teams in Demerara competing for four quarter final places, four Essequibo teams battling for two quarter final places and four rival teams representing the Berbice location, competing for two quarter –final places.
The preliminary round of matches will commence on the Saturday (November 21) and conclude on December 5. The quarter-finals will be held on December 6, the Semi-Finals on December 11 and the Final on December 12.
In a release to the media, the GCB stated that it is “Grateful to the Ministry of Health and the COVID-19 Task force for seeing it fit to grant approval to return to cricket activity. The GCB is calling on all players and officials to assist in ensuring that there is strict adherence to the protocols with respect to the COVID-19 measures”.
“Further, GCB extends gratitude to its T20 Over 40 sponsor, Tropical Spring. The GCB is proud to be collaborating with Tropical Spring and wish the entity increased productivity with their business. In addition, the GCB is grateful to the individual sponsors of the many teams that are a part of this tournament and wishes them all success in their endeavors”.
The tournament promises to be exciting and will witness the 16 teams competing for a first prize of $250,000 and a runners-up prize of $100,000.
“The GCB trusts that the National Over 40 Tournament, will continue to realize it objective of bringing former experience players back to the cricket environment, and thereby serving as an impetus for their involvement in relevant facets of the administration of the game, inclusive of coaching and mentorship”.
The teams are as follows:
Essequibo: Reliance Sports Club, Invaders Masters, Imam Bacchus Over 40, Jaguars Over 40
Demerara: West Demerara Masters, West Demerara Mavericks, Everest Masters, Regal Masters, KV Construction Masters, RP Construction Legends, Sand Pipper Masters, Bel-Air Rubis Ultra Tec
Berbice: General Marine Masters, Jai Hind Masters, Sarjoo Tigers, West Berbice Masters
The 592 Dugout 