Guyana will take on homesters Barbados at the Kensington Oval from today in the second round of the 2008 Carib Beer Series tournament and captain Ramnaresh Sarwan said yesterday he was looking for an improved performance from his team.
In an invited comment with Stabroek Sport after the team’s final practice session yesterday, Sarwan highlighted the team’s batting as being responsible for their downfall against Trinidad and said he would be looking to correct that aspect of the team’s performance when they oppose Barbados.
“When we played against Trinidad we were looking at getting a score within the region of 400 to 500 but our batting fell away on the second morning. Should we get to this score against Barbados, it would give us a great opportunity to bowl them out twice,” Sarwan said.
He said it would be pleasant for him to see the batsmen string along some valuable partnerships as they endeavour to realize their goal against the Barbados bowling attack.
Out of favour West Indies fast bowler Tino Best, will lead the Bajans’ attack which includes left-arm spinners Ryan Hinds and Suleiman Benn.
The Guyana team already at a disadvantage by being forced to use Travis Dowlin as an opener, suffered another blow when established opening batsman and form player Sewnarine Chattergoon was called up for the upcoming One-Dayers against South Africa and left the squad.
“He is very hard to replace. For the past two years he has been playing for Guyana, he has been performing consistently with the bat. For him to leave us at this point is severe but I think he has a better opportunity to play for the West Indies and I want to take this opportunity to wish him all the best on behalf of the team, and we do hope he gets off to a good start,” Sarwan said.
Coach Albert Smith echoed the words of Sarwan and said he too was looking forward to a better batting performance against the Barbadians, who won their first round game against the Windward Islands inside three days and lead the points standings along with Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.
“We need to improve on our batting. If one were to look back at the Trinidad game they would have seen us losing six wickets for 67 runs on the second day when we were well set for a huge total,” Smith stated.
“The absence of Chattergoon (Sewnarine) at the top of the order would be a great loss to the team, but his replacement Royston Crandon is a capable opener also and is expected to fill the breach,” Smith added.
The Guyanese would be hoping for a better bowling performance against the Barbadians who will be looking for their second consecutive win.
Fast bowler Brandon Bess, although impressing with his pace, had a miserable debut game against the Trinidadians and will be hoping to rebound.
“Bess just had a no-ball problem, something we have never seen from him before. But that aside, he did bowl with some pace, the quickest we have seen from him. Our bowlers did bowl a tidy line especially to Brian (Lara) in the first innings. Lara himself had a pep talk with the team after, something I think would have been beneficial for such a young team,” Smith stated.
The team from the Land of Many Waters will be looking to contain the batsmen from the Land of the Flying Fish, especially Hinds, Dale Richards and Dwayne Smith who are all known to get good scores against them.
“They ( Barbados) have a good bowling attack which comprises Best (Tino), Hinds (Ryan) and Suleiman Benn, and it would not be easy scoring against them especially at home. But I do expect our batsmen to come good and at the end of the day, I am confident that we can improve on our performance, thus enabling us to come out on top in this game,” said Smith.
Sarwan, who scored a half-century and a century against the Trinidadians was a little concerned over the injury which forced him to miss the tour of South Africa.
“I spoke with Dr Ally and the `physio’ in Trinidad with regards to the niggling I was feeling whilst turning when running between the wickets.
“They said it is normal as it is only now that I have started running and playing on it. I just have to monitor it properly and keep it loose with a lot of stretching, but so far it has been okay and I am not going to push myself too hard,” he said.
The Barbadians will be seeking another outright win in their quest to retain the Carib Beer championship.
In an invited comment, coach Vasbert Drakes said he expected a tough match against Guyana but said he was confident that the winning process could continue.
“We have individuals who are capable of performing on the day and once they get in, they can carry the team through the rest of the game. But first and foremost, first innings points are what we are looking for,” Drakes stated.
‘Batting first, we would be looking to score anything over 280, as we feel that that would be a competitive score on any Barbadian wicket. In the last 10-15 years, Barbados has not been able to score consistently over 400 runs so any score over 280 is very competitive,’ Drakes added.
The home team had a practice session at the Kensington Oval early yesterday morning and has brought in former West Indies under-19 all rounder Javon Searles as cover for the fiery Kemar Roach, who experienced some slight niggles in his back in the match against the Windward Islands .
The game is set to start at 1000h weather permitting as dark clouds were hovering over the island yesterday afternoon.