E’bo Franchise team not supported by ECB-Forbes Daniels
Oct 16, 2016, , http://www.kaieteurnewsonline....-ecb-forbes-daniels/
E’bo needs more cricket for the team to improve
By Sean Devers
When pacer Courtney Gonsalves bowled Essequibo to an upset win against Demerara in the final to win the 1980 Inter-County First-Class title it raised hopes that the County’s cricket was coming of age.
But that victory remains Essequibo’s only National Senior title since and Forbes Daniels, Manager of this year’s Essequibo Franchise team in the GCB’s League, feels Essequibo will continue to struggle at the senior level because of a lack cricket in Essequibo and support from the Essequibo Cricket Board (ECB).
Daniels, a qualified Coach from Suddie, lamented that the team was short of practice but got better as the League progressed.
“We wanted to travel early to get some practice before our first match but the Board said they could not provide Lunch. But we still decided to come early anyway and organised a practice game at Tuschen but rain spoiled our plans.”
According to Daniels there is no cricket played in Essequibo and the players only get together on the day before the match and when they played at Tuschen the team does not stay together.
“The Marketing department of the Essequibo Board is not doing enough to get sponsors for Tournaments,” Daniels said.
He says if Essequibo’s Cricket is to improve ‘outside’ Coaches have to be sent by the GCB and more school cricket played in the County and not in only small areas.
Daniels informed that a Hostel is controlled by the ECB but the facility is underused and not maintained properly. He disclosed that the team was selected with any input from the Coach or Manager.
Head Coach Michael Franco Hyles, an experienced Berbician who works with the Academy and Guyana First-Class players, explained that a Coach needs time to work with the players before a tournament commences and since no Camp is organised for the team, this was not possible.
“Shiv (Chanderpaul) played three games with us was the best thing that could have happened for our team, He has a wealth of knowledge and made a big difference in the dressing room. We need more people like him to go to Essequibo to Coach,” Hyles noted.
Despite having Kemo Paul, the best U-19 player in the West Indies, in addition to players like Kevin Boodie, Ricardo Adams, Ronsford Beaton and the Adams sibling (Anthony & Akenie), Hyles feels that while there is talent the problem is more mental and tactical which is a reason why Camps are important.
Hyles said he was surprised when a Berbice Businessman agreed to provide the entire Essequibo team training attire and an ECB Official asked who does the donor support?
The Imam Bacchus ground on the Essequibo Coast and the Tuschen ground on the East Bank of Essequibo have the best pitches and grounds used in the just concluded Franchise League, but unfortunately both areas are starved of even regular club Cricket.
Essequibo is the largest of Guyana’s three Counties but the least populated and most neglected despite being rich in Gold, Rice and possibly Oil. This is mainly due to its massive terrain and geographical location.
Only recently a trip was organised by Mitzy Campbell for a group of National Cricketers and the Media to go to Mabaruma to spread cricket in that Community.
In the 1990s, the GCB, under President Chetram Singh, built a pitch in an Amerindian settlement and last year Guyana-born England International Monty Lynch tried to organize a League in a Hinterland Community.
But there was no real follow-up to these initiatives and structured cricket is only played in Region two (the Coast) and Region three (the Islands and East Bank E’bo).
Unlike Berbice where the BCB runs an inter Sub-Association competition and in Demerara where teams from West Demerara, East Coast, East Bank and Georgetown participate, no such competition is played in Essequibo.
Some of the prohibitive factors are that teams are separated by water over long distances, the expense of Boat travels, lack of proper accommodation and most importantly lack of sponsorship to provide funds to run tournaments.
The only ECB competition involving all the area teams is the Busta tournament but since the return to his homeland of Trinidadian Robert Selman, a long serving Busta Soft Drinks executive, the competition has stopped.