America coming for U-19 tournament
By Donald Duff
Stabroek News
June 22, 2003
A youth cricket team from the United States of America will be coming to Guyana for this year’s regional West Indies Under-19 cricket series, Chetram Singh president of the Guyana Cricket Board has disclosed.
Singh told Stabroek Sports that the US team and a team from Bermuda will join the six regional teams, Guyana, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, the Windward Islands and the Leeward Islands to contest this year’s under-19 cricket competition to be held from August 5-30.
This will be the first time that teams from the US and Bermuda will be competing in Guyana and the advent of these two teams is sure to heighten interest in the tournament.
Singh informed Stabroek Sports that the US and Bermuda will field under-21 players while the rest of the region will field under-19 players.
Singh, who is the front runner to fill the position being vacated by West Indies Cricket Board president Wes Hall come next month, said that the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) as the only Test playing territory in the area is responsible for the development of cricket in the Americas and the Caribbean.
Asked why Bermuda and the US were being allowed to field under-21 players whilst the rest of the region fielded under-19 players Singh said were Bermuda and the US to field under-19 players they might not be competitive at this level.
The eight teams will compete in the one-day competition first before embarking on the three-day format, Singh disclosed.
Singh said unlike past years, teams that are eliminated at the semi-final stage will not remain until the end of the tournament but will return home.
He said the reason for this was because the WICB had discovered that the teams lose interest once they are no longer in the running for top honours.
Singh said there will be an opening presentation to which all the teams will be invited much like is done at the Olympics and other big games and a final presentation which will take place at the ground the final is being staged on.
Judging for individual awards will also be done up to the semi-finals.
Singh said that all the teams are expected in Guyana by August 3rd.
