Courtney Gonsalves

Courtney Alexander Gonsalves (31 August 1950 – 31 March 2013) was a

Gonsalves, a right-arm

Berbice won the match by nine wickets in what was Essequibo's only first-class match – only the final of the three-team Jones Cup (later the Guystac Trophy) was accorded first-class status, and Essequibo made the final only once, having defeated Demerara in an earlier match.^[6] The scorecards of the non-first-class matches played by Essequibo are not available before the late 1990s, and it is therefore uncertain how Gonsalves performed for Essequibo in earlier matches.^[7] However, later in the 1980–81 season, he played in the first two of Guyana's matches in the limited-overs Geddes Grant/Harrison Line Trophy.^[8]

Gonsalves made his debut for Guyana against the Windward Islands at Arnos Vale in Kingstown, Saint Vincent. He took 1/10 on debut from four overs, opening the bowling with Ray Joseph and taking the wicket of Vincentian opening batsman Lance John.^[9] He was less successful in his second match, played a week later against Barbados at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, going wicketless and conceding 20 runs from three overs, mostly to Desmond Haynes.^[10] Gonsalves was the first Essequibian to go on to play for the Guyanese national side, which was at that time dominated by players from Berbice and Demerara.^[11]

After the conclusion of his playing career, Gonsalves took up coaching, and was also at one stage a selector for the Guyanese national team. In 1998, he was awarded "Coach of the Year" by the