Guyana confirmed for Regional One-Day Tourney

by Sean Devers – Kaieteur News

Switched from its original venue Florida, the 2008 Regional One-Day cricket competition will now be played in Guyana from November 14-27 and will involve a record 10 teams including two from North America.

West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Director Chetram Singh on Friday confirmed that the tournament will be played in Guyana, which last hosted a final in the competition in 2005 when Guyana beat Barbados in near darkness at Bourda to claim their last title at this level.

Singh, the longest serving WICB Director and Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) President since 1992, said that 28 matches will be played and added that plans are in place to try and have the semi-finals and final under lights at the Guyana National Stadium at Providence which last month hosted its first Day/Night match when Demerara beat Berbice in Guyana’s Inter-County 50-overs final.

Guyana, on the South American mainland, has a rich tradition of successfully hosting several regional tournaments at all levels in the past and with seven First-class venues presently available and a number of other grounds good enough to host regional matches, in addition to the exchange rate of G$200 for US$1, Guyana is well suited to host this competition at a time when the WICB could be watching its budget.

Singh said that Canada, who first played in 1996 and the USA, who competed in 2001 will re-enter the competition along with a West Indies under-19 team and Combined Colleges and Campuses side.

Both the West Indies colts and the CCC played in last year’s competition when matches in the tournament were last played in Guyana.

The University unit and the West Indies youth team played for the first time in the 2002 tournament when Canada made a re-entry.

Three matches will be played simultaneously on one day while two will be contested every other day before the grand final on November 27.

The tournament fixtures and venues will be announced shortly and if discussions are fruitful then Guyana could join Barbados as the only countries to host matches in the regional One-Day competition (which began in 1976) under lights.

Last year’s historic final-four was held at the 3Ws Oval at the UWI Campus in Barbados under lights when Jamaica beat Trinidad and Tobago in the final to lift their seventh title.