Demerara cricket team played first class cricket in the Jones Cup, later the

Guystac Trophy The Guystac Trophy was a Guyanese inter-county cricket tournament, the final of which had first-class status. The tournament was played annually, the final being usually between Demerara and Berbice Berbice is a region along the Berbice Rive ...

, and came from the former British colony of

Demerara Demerara ( nl, Demerary, ) is a historical region in the Guianas, on the north coast of South America, now part of the country of Guyana. It was a colony of the Dutch West India Company between 1745 and 1792 and a colony of the Dutch state fro ...

, which is now a county of

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

, formerly

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first European to encounter Guiana was S ...

. The other counties are Berbice and Essequibo. They are credited as playing in the inaugural first class cricket match in the West Indies with a game against

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

in 186

Demerara were winners of the Jones Cup in 1972/73, and the Guystac Trophy in 1984/85, 1985/86 and 1989/90. Cricketers to have played for them include

Shivnarine Chanderpaul Shivnarine "Shiv" Chanderpaul (born 16 August 1974) is a Guyanese people, Guyanese cricket coach and former captain of the West Indies cricket team. Considered one of the greatest batsmen of his era, Chanderpaul is the first Indo-Caribbean to pla ...

Lance Gibbs Lancelot Richard Gibbs (born 29 September 1934) is a former West Indies cricketer, one of the most successful spin bowlers in Test cricket history. He took 309 Test wickets, only the second player (after Fred Trueman) to pass 300, the first spi ...

Roger Harper Roger Andrew Harper (born 17 March 1963) is a Guyanese former cricketer turned coach, who played both Test and One Day International cricket for the West Indies cricket team. His international career lasted 13 years, from 1983 to 1996, and he w ...

Carl Hooper Carl Llewelyn Hooper (born 15 December 1966) is a former Guyanese cricketer who captained the West Indies in Tests and ODIs. An all-rounder, he was a right-handed batsman and off-spin bowler, who came to prominence in the late 1980s in a side ...

and

Ramnaresh Sarwan Ramnaresh Ronnie Sarwan (born 23 June 1980) is a cricketer of Indo-Guyanese origin who played as a batsman. He is a former member and former captain of the West Indies cricket team, in all formats. Sarwan went on to average over 40 in both the ...

. The Jones Cup was the inter-county tournament in Guyana for many years until the name was changed to that of the new sponsors of the competition, Guystac. The final, only, was a first class match during the 1970s and 1980s. The name Demerara was often used when referring to the whole of British Guiana in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, resulting in some confusion for students of cricket history. Before the 1950s, it was very unusual for a player from Berbice or Essequibo to be selected to play for British Guiana.

External links

Cricket Archive listing of West Indian tournaments
{{DEFAULTSORT:Demerara West Indian first-class cricket teams Former senior cricket clubs of the West Indies Cricket in Guyana