june 30, 2013
guyanatimesGY.com
Hats off to Limacol/ NEW GPC INC Sports view by Neil Kumar
H
ats off to corporate citizen, Dr Ranjisingh Ramroop, for his genuine support to the first Caribbean Premier League (CPL) as franchise owner! NEW GPC INC, through its Limacol brand, has taken the title sponsorship of the CPL. This impressive Caribbean cricket tournament will now be called the Limacol CPL. The Limacol Caribbean Premier League Twenty20 will be a spectacular cricket championship in the Caribbean. This first genuine, most attractive and well organised tournament will bring to the Caribbean quality cricket at its best. The franchise superstars from around the world will be playing with the Caribbean’s best. The very young cricketers with their potential and talent will have a well-deserved opportunity to play in the same team and against some of the best in the world.
Euphoria
Oh! It will indeed be a delightful euphoria to see the likes of Ricky Pointing, Ross Taylor and Muttiah Murlitharran playing with our Caribbean stars in the same team. The first-ever Caribbean Premier League is coming after the well-established Indian Premier League, Big Bash in Australia and other Twenty20 leagues in Bangladesh and elsewhere. However, our Caribbean cricketers are known for their special calypso type cricket and after all we in the Caribbean are fully aware of the nostalgia when our own “Super Cat” Clive Lloyd lifted the first two World Cups. The West Indies cricket team has achieved greatness and our cricketers are world class players.
Dr Ranjisinghi Ramroop
India can boast that they are the richest cricketing country with an abundance of world class players and money. Hence, the thousands of spectators who fill the huge stadiums across India and the millions who watched their television stations and the further millions, who listened to radio commentary, certainly help to bring peace, tranquility and satisfaction to a greater part of the Indian population.
Diaspora
Scores of Guyanese in the diaspora are already calling and requesting information about returning home to see the matches that will be played at the Guyana National Stadium at Providence. Hundreds of Guyanese from North America, UK and other parts of the world will be coming home to share in our Emancipation Day activities and will seize the opportunity to witness the CPL matches at Providence. The NEW GPC sponsorship is a multi-year agreement which will be in all aspects of the tournament, from branding, uniforms, advertising, marketing and production. Above all, NEW GPC is the franchise owner of our country’s pride, Guyana
Ramnaresh Sarwan
Amazon Warriors. The Guyana Amazon Warriors is really a very good team. Ramnaresh Sarwan was the first captain to win the first ever Twenty20 tournament in the Caribbean. He was the Man-of-the-Series in the 2004 Champions Trophy tournament when West Indies won. Sarwan is known as the batsman who can walk to the wicket at number three and play through the innings. Most significantly is the fact that Ramnaresh Sarwan is a great finisher. The Amazon Warriors includes the number one bowler in the world Sunil Narine, New Zealand’s in-form batsman Martin Guptill, Pakistan’s solid allrounder, Mohammed Hafeez.
Team strength
The batting will further be strengthened by the dependable and experienced Narsingh Deonarine, Lendl Simmons and the West Indies wicketkeeper/ batsman Denesh Ramdin. Hence, it cannot be denied that the Amazon Warriors are extremely strong in batting. The bowling will benefit from the speed of Ronsford Beaton, who will receive valuable support from Krishmar Santokie and James Franklyn. Narine will receive support from Hafeez
Guyana U-17 team depart for... from back page
Meanwhile, manager Nazeer Mohamed said the squad has had adequate preparation leading up to the regional championships and he is confident that Guyana would performing outstandingly in the tournament. “The players are committed and eager to do well. I am confident the players will do a good job. They are supporting each other and the team spirit is high. We have some talented players who can hold their own in any given situation,” he said. Speaking about the players in the squad, captain Travis Persaud said: “We have a talented squad with capable batsmen and wicket-taking bowlers.” He stated that he expects a lot from vice captain Shimron Hetmyer and fast
bowling all-rounder Kemo Paul. “These are two senior guys in the team; I know what they are capable of and I am looking forward to their support in every department,” added Persaud. The captain affirmed the team’s allround ability, stating “the batsmen have the ability to build an innings and occupy the crease so I am confident we will be able to get scores of 250 or close to three hundred.” He added, “The bowlers are good enough to restrict oppositions, we have a variety to choose from.” Guyana will be in action on Monday against the Windward Islands. The Guyanese will then play Barbados on July 3, Leeward Islands on July 4, Jamaica on July 6 and hosts Trinidad and Tobago
on July 7. The tournament will comprise five rounds and 15 50-over matches that will be played on a round robin format. Jamaica are the defending champions after winning the inaugural tournament last year and will be looking to defend that title against the five other regional teams: Barbados, Guyana, Leeward Islands, Trinidad and Tobago and Windward Islands. Guyana: Travis Persaud (captain), Shimron Hetmeyer (vice captain), Grisean Grant, Travis Drakes, Ronaldo Renee, Brandon Persaud, Parmesh Parsotam, Kemo Paul, Sherfane Rutherford, Daniel Lewis, Keanu Harry, Navendra Persaud, Permanand Ramdhan and Ryan Adams.
and Veerasammy Permaul. Young Christopher Barnwell, Trevon Griffith and William Perkins are players who can impact on the tournament. Dr Ramroop is very optimistic about the future of cricket in the Caribbean. He said “Guyana Amazon Warriors represents an investment we have in the CPL, in the sport, in the players. Caribbean cricket is part of our culture.” He added, “We believe in the transformative potential of CPL for the Caribbean region. Not only does it promise to completely rejuvenate and revitalise cricket in the Caribbean, it has the potential to provide a tremendous economic and social boost as well. We feel it is important for the major corporate houses of the region to support this landmark initiative and intend to set an example by taking the title sponsorship of the event. “Limacol is a product that for decades, Caribbean people have used to refresh and rejuvenate themselves. To sponsor the CPL, an event that promises to rejuvenate and refresh not just cricket in the Caribbean, but the region in general, is an obvious fit for us. “Cricket is close to the heart of the Caribbean people. This particular form of cricket is what our players love. The cricketing fraternity expectations are sky high that this CPL will be a great tournament.”
21
GCF Time Trials…
Jeffrey, Anthony, Newton and Fraser victorious
R
Raynauth Jeffrey
aynauth Jeffrey, Michael Anthony, Raymond Newton and Claire Fraser emerged victorious in their respective categories on Saturday when the Guyana Cycling Federation (GCF) held its time trials ahead of today’s National Championship. For the second year in succession, the Time Trials was held on the Linden/ Soesdyke Highway, with the riders starting at Madewini, proceeding to where the first toll station was and back to the point of origin for the finish. Jeffrey, who recently graduated to the senior ranks, easily topped that category, as Team Coco (Guyana) had a 1-2 finish. Jeffrey finished the course in a time of 14 minutes, 31.90 seconds, with Paul DeNobrega clocking 15 minutes, 31.40 seconds. The other top finishers in the senior division were Marlon Williams (15:37.30s), Godfrey Pollydore
(15:38.64s), Rastaff O’Selmo (15:48.60s), Davindra Sahadeo (15:55.14s), Jude Bentley (15:59.51s), Hector Edwards Jr (16:41.95s) and Mark Sonaram (17:55.58s). Anthony, another Team Coco (Guyana) rider, was the leading competitor in the junior division, clocking 15:17.92s to finish ahead of Hamza Eastman (15:56.68s), Shaquille Agard (15:59.81s) and Akeem Arthur (16:33.49s). The experienced Newton topped the Veterans category, winning in 15:25s, ahead of Stephen Fernandes (15:35s), Kennard Lovell (18:12s), and Lancelot Rose (20:09s). On the distaff side, Fraser was the leading rider with a time of 18:07s, followed by Hazina Barrett (18:09s), Naomi Singh (18:18s) and Marica Dick (19:27s). The riders will today compete in the National Championship with registration set to start at 06:00 hours on Homestretch Avenue. The senior riders will then move off from that location, head to Soweto on the Linden/ Soesdyke Highway, before returning to the start point for the finish. The junior riders will turn back at Long Creek on the upward journey, while the veterans and females will turn at Kuru Kururu and return to Homestretch Avenue for the finish. The defending champion of the senior division is Orville Hinds of Linden Bauxite Flyers Cycle Club.