Guyana captain Ramnaresh Sarwan is optimistic that his young team which is participating in this year’s Regional Carib Beer Series tournament, will get it right.
Speaking to the media after the team’s nine-wicket loss to Trinidad and Tobago in their opening game at the Queen’s Park Oval, Sarwan complimented his bunch of young players, making special mention of key individual performances during the match.
“I must say that for a young team we played our hearts out. Kudos must go to Chattergoon (Sewnarine) for his first innings hundred and Johnson (Leon) and Fudadin (Assad) for their supporting roles, but our demise on the second morning was crucial to our game. Also our bowlers, especially Mohammed (Zaheer) and Permaul (Veerasammy) did not bowl too badly,”Sarwan stated.
“When we came out the second morning, our goal was to get anything within the region of 500, but losing the final six wickets for 67 runs was a total setback for us,” he added.
Highlighting the innings of Lara and also his retirement from International cricket, Sarwan said that the double world record holder, just dominated slower bowlers the way he always does even when he was playing for the West Indies.
“It shows that Brian can still bat and dominate any attack. He is a great player and that does not go away overnight. He totally took the game away from us although we did bat badly on the second morning. His retirement from International cricket was his choice, I can’t say if it was too soon or not as only he knows.”
When questioned about his form and fitness, Sarwan, who scored 63 in the first innings and an unbeaten 105 in the second, (his seventh regional hundred and the second against Trinidad) said he felt pretty confident.
“Prior to coming to Trinidad , I had a knock back home. This was my third time batting in three months and I felt comfortable. It is just a matter of time as I groove myself gradually back into full form and fitness. I have to be very careful with my ankle as it is still in the healing process, but as time goes by, I will be back at my peak,” he added.
Quizzed about Gayle’s (Chris) SOS call from South Africa , Sarwan promptly told the media personnel gathered that he was not going.
“I need three to four weeks to get my game up to a higher level. I wish I can start playing test cricket tomorrow, but that is not possible right now. Hopefully I will continue until I am back at that level and when I do go back there (playing test cricket) I do intend to continue the high level of intensity that is presently ongoing with the team.”
Guyana’s next game will be against tournament leaders Barbados at the Kensington Oval from Friday and Sarwan said he hoped that his team would l improve on its performance especially with the absence of Chattergoon, who returned home in preparation for his call up to the West Indies team in South Africa for the one-dayers.
