Guyana’s top eight school cricket teams received their custom playing kits yesterday as preparations intensified for the national stage of the Beharry Group Schools Under-19 T20 competition.
The kits were officially presented by the Petra Organisation during a ceremony at the Ministry of Education ground on Carifesta Avenue. The players and officials also participated in a briefing ahead of the opening round of matches on Sunday, August 9.
Essequibo Islands Secondary, which recorded the best net run rate of 7.992 during the preliminary stage, will compete in Group A alongside Covent Garden Secondary, Abram Zuil Secondary and Queen’s College.
Group B features Annandale Secondary, Berbice Educational Institute, West Side High School and St. Stanislaus College.
Tournament coordinator Azizi Christiani explained that the schools were placed into the two groups based on their net run rates. Annandale finished with the second-best rate of 4.644, followed by Berbice Educational Institute on 3.829, Covent Garden on 3.558, West Side High on 2.984 and Abram Zuil on 2.932. St. Stanislaus recorded 0.738, while Queen’s College advanced with a rate of -0.769.
Group Marketing Manager of the Beharry Group, Malissa Sylvester, congratulated the schools on reaching the national round and praised the Petra Organisation for successfully managing the competition despite several challenges.
Lengthy periods of rainfall affected the earlier stages and forced organisers to postpone several matches, but the competition continued across the participating zones.
Nicholas Fraser, head of the Ministry of Education’s Allied Arts Unit, also encouraged the players to take pride in their achievement, noting that they had earned places among the country’s leading school cricket teams.
The national round will bowl off on August 9 at the Queen’s College ground. Essequibo Islands will face Queen’s College at 10:30am on Pitch One, followed by West Side High against St. Stanislaus at 2pm.
On Pitch Two, Abram Zuil will meet Covent Garden at 10:30am before Berbice Educational Institute takes on Annandale at 2pm.
The second round is scheduled for August 11 at venues across the country. Abram Zuil will play Queen’s College at the Anna Regina Stadium, while Essequibo Islands will face Covent Garden at Wakenaam. Berbice Educational Institute will host West Side High at the Albion ground, and Annandale will meet St. Stanislaus at Queen’s College. All four matches begin at 10am.
The final group matches will be played on August 13. Queen’s College will face Covent Garden at 9:30am at the Queen’s College ground, followed by St. Stanislaus against Berbice Educational Institute at 1:30pm. West Side High will play Annandale at Cotton Tree, while Abram Zuil will meet Essequibo Islands at the Anna Regina Stadium from 10am.
The winners of Groups A and B will contest the first qualifier on August 16, while the two runners-up will meet in the eliminator later that day. The second qualifier is scheduled for August 19, with the championship match set for August 23 at 7pm. Venues for the playoff matches are still to be confirmed.
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