Welcome to the GSL T20 in Guyana where big oil, geopolitics and cricket collide | Jonathan Liew

T20 tournament has sprung up amid battle for oil and allies but do the cricketers actually know what is going on?

In 1899 an international tribunal controversially settled a border dispute between Venezuela and British Guiana in favour of the British, and 125 years later Liam Dawson is walking back to the Providence Stadium pavilion, run out for a two-ball duck after failing to slide his bat into the crease. Obviously we’ve stripped out a little intermediate context there. But these two events, these seemingly random nodes in time, are in fact ephemerally connected.

What do you mean, you haven’t been following Hampshire’s progress in the Global Super League Twenty20 in Guyana? It’s been playing live on YouTube every night. Nick Knight and Mark Butcher are among the commentators. International stars like Moeen Ali, Carlos Brathwaite and Shan Masood are featuring. At the time of writing, meanwhile, Dawson has faced five balls in the competition, scored one run and been dismissed three times.

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