Ramnaresh Sarwan has been appointed skipper of Guyana’s 14-member squad which will contest the preliminary rounds of this year’s KFC regional limited overs championship from October 16 – 22 here.
The team also includes Durham professional Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who missed the recent Inter-County cricket competition because of his commitments to his county.
Chanderpaul, who has been in fine form recently, is one of several players with test experience in the squad the others being Narsingh Deonarine, Neil Mc Garrell, Reon King and Mahendra Nagamootoo.
Demerara Cricket Club’s (DCC) batting all-rounder Chris Barnwell who has displayed maturity in his game during the past few months has been included in the 14 while Malteenoes all-rounder Lennox Cush, who had a lean time with the bat during the recent El Dorado Inter County competition has been omitted.
The batting will hinge on openers Sewnarine Chattergoon and hard-hitting explosive Berbice partner Royston Crandon, who will be expected to lay a foundation for the middle order led by Sarwan, Chanderpaul, Travis Dowlin and Assad Fudadin to build on.
Wicket-keeper Derwin Christian is also a capable enough batsman, Barnwell is maturing nicely and Mahendra Nagamootoo, who is no slouch with the bat either, should recover from his hamstring injury by the time the tournament commences.
The veteran Mc Garrell, Esaun Crandon and Zaheer Mohammed can also contribute with the bat.
The bowling is in the capable hands of ex-West Indies fast bowler Reon King, Esaun Crandon and Barnwell who can hold his own with the new ball.
Fudadin can bowl either both medium pace or spin, while his fielding will be an asset to the team especially in the backward point area.
The spin department is in the capable hands of regional record-holder Nagamootoo, Mc Garrell, Mohammed and Royston Crandon.
The 14 reads: Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Narsingh Deonarine, Royston Crandon, Assad Fudadin, Derwin Christian, Neil Mc Garrell, Mahendra Nagamootoo, Esaun Crandon, Reon King, Christopher Barnwell and Zaheer Mohammed. The coach is Albert Smith with Carl Moore as the manager.
Meanwhile, six players have been listed as stand-bys for possible selection on the team if required. They are Leon Johnson, Deon Ferrier, Kwesi Mentore, Jeremy Gordon, Davendra Bishu, and Brandon Bess.
In addition to those standbys, Homchand Pooran, Orin Forde, Gajanand Singh, Trevon Garraway, Cush, Imran Jafferally, Krishna Arjune, Maxie DeJonge and Imran Khan have been mandated to continue the training programme for consideration and selection on the Guyana Twenty20 and Carib Beer Cricket teams.
The GCB has also released the dates, venues and umpires for the upcoming KFC limited over championship which commences with Guyana playing the Windward Islands at Albion on October 16.
Fixtures
Oct.16: Albion: Guyana vs Windwards V. Bullen/ C. Mack
( D. Somwaru)
National Stadium: Trinidad vs UWI N.Malcolm/C.Duncan (D. Balgobin)
Oct.17:National Stadium: Leewards vs Jamaica C. Greaves/ T. Birbal (C. Alfred)
Blairmont
Barbados vs Wi Under-19 C. Mack/E. Nicholls (D. Anandjit)
Oct.18: National Stadium: UWI vs Guyana
T. Birbal/N. Malcolm (D. Somwaru)
Bourda
Windwards vs Trinidad V. Bullen/C. Duncan
(D. Balgobin)
Oct.19 Enmore: WI Under-19 vs Jamaica
C. Duncan/ C. Mack ( D. Anandjit)
Bourda
Leewards vs B arbados C. Greaves/ E. Nicholls (C Alfred)
Oct.20 National Stadium: Guyana vs Trinidad V. Bullen/ N. Malcolm(D. Balgobin)
Blairmont
Windwards vs UWI T. Birbal/ E. Nicholls (D. Somwaru)
Oct.21 Enmore: WI Under-19 vs Leewards
E. Nicholls/ nm. Malcolm ( C. Alfred)
National Stadium: Barbados vs Jamaica
C. Duncan/ C. Greaves (D. Anandjit)
