For the second day in succession rain has affected the opening Inter-County cricket match between Demerara and Essequibo at the Everest Cricket Club ground, but unlike the first day when some amount of play was possible, the weather had the final say yesterday as no amount of mopping up could make any impact on the state of the ground.
The third day’s play is scheduled to commence at 10am today, weather permitting.
At the end of the rain affected first day, Demerara were shakily placed on 86-5 with their captain Travis Dowlin unbeaten on 25. With him is night watchman Rayon Griffith who will be facing the first delivery when play is resumed.
In an invited comment, Dowlin told Stabroek Sport that he was a bit disappointed with the cheap dismissal of some of the batsmen in the top order.
“We were looking for a solid start and to lose Barrington and Barnwell so fast was a set back for us. Having played lots of limited overs cricket recently, the guys probably still have that mentality.
“However, kudos must go to the Essequibo bowlers who exploited the moisture in the pitch to set us back. But our batsmen did play some injudicious shots which contributed to their downfall,” Dowlin said.
He, however, stated that Demerara was looking for some time in the middle in this game, to get within the vicinity of 250-265 and give their bowlers a decent target to fight with.
His opposite counterpart, Trevon Garraway, also expressed his disappointment in losing an entire day’s play.
“We were looking to wrap up the Demerara batting early for 140-150, so our batsmen could have the opportunity of getting for us a sizeable lead of around 150 thereby giving us the chance of forcing an outright win as early as possible,” he said.
