With no points in the bag following two outright losses Guyana’s captain Ramnaresh Sarwan is looking to leave Jamaica with some points at the end of his team’s clash with the joint tournament leaders.
Guyana and Jamaica square off at Sabina Park from today in their third-round fixture of the 2008 regional Carib Beer Series tournament.
Speaking to the media following Guyana’s innings and 57-run defeat against Barbados in their last game, Sarwan blamed poor shot selection by the batsmen for the defeat.
“It was really disappointing to lose two consecutive games, but this is a young bunch of players and we just have to keep our heads up when we go against Jamaica and get some points there.”
Sarwan hopes that his young bowlers can create chances against Jamaica who are joint leaders with Barbados on 24 points.
“In our first two games, the bowlers did not create many chances.
“Even though we are getting wickets, we are getting them when batsmen are taking chances and that is a bit of a worry.
“Before the tournament started, I said they were capable of doing a good job with the ball and I hope that they can get it right when we oppose Jamaica,” Sarwan added.
The Guyanese batsmen, especially the openers, will also need to buckle down.
After four innings, the best start Guyana has gotten at the top was the score of 40 between Sewnarine Chattergoon and Travis Dowlin in the first innings against Trinidad.
Chattergoon went on to make a century and was promptly called up by the West Indies selectors for the One-dayers against South Africa.
His place has been taken by Royston Crandon.
The middle order batsmen have been getting starts but have failed to carry on, none more than experienced batsman, Narsingh Deonarine, who has been gifting his wicket away with some injudicious shots and the selectors might consider giving former West Indies under-19 middle order batsman Gajanand Singh his senior cap.
Deonarine has so far accumulated scores of 0, 46, 19 and 48 and as one who has represented the West Indies test team, needs to lift his game and help shoulder some of the responsibility.
Former West Indies under-19 captain, Leon Johnson, has also been getting starts and not carrying on while Assad Fudadin, who was in fine form during the Inter County competitions, has failed to bring his form with him.
With Trevon Garraway replacing the injured Jeremy Gordon, young Brandon Bess will be expected to improve on his first innings showing in Trinidad where although he bowled fast, he was troubled by a no ball problem.
There is also Esaun Crandon, who probably is feeling the strain of shouldering the responsibility of spearheading the attack in the absence of Reon King, Rayon Griffith, Neil Mc Garrell and Mahendra Nagamootoo, all seasoned campaigners.
Although he did not say so, Sarwan is clearly missing the services of the two most experienced bowlers around the country today.
The Guyanese used eight bowlers to dislodge the Barbadians in their one and only innings with Sarwan being the spearhead of the attack with 2-28.
“You can never say no. We just have to wait and see what happens. We have to go back to Guyana after the Jamaica game and then there is a break for the Stanford tournament, but anything is possible,” Sarwan said when asked about a recall of the two.
Regardless of how things go, the Guyanese will have to lift their game when they oppose the Jamaicans who are on a high following a convincing win over the Combined Colleges and Campuses (CCC) in their last game.
The Jamaicans’ batting will be led by two former West Indies openers in Wavell Hinds and Xavier Marshall who both got contrasting half centuries in the win over the CCC side. Add captain Tamar Lambert, wicket keeper/batsman Keith Hibbert and Australia-born Brendan Nash and the Guyanese bowlers will have their work cut out for them.
With Donovan Pagon and Carlton Baugh in the line up, The Jamaicans’ batting has some depth which could be cause for some level of concern for the Guyanese bowlers who are yet to penetrate their opponents batting line up effectively.
The main Jamaican bowlers will be Jermaine Lawson, Dave Bernard, Nash, Nikita Miller and Odean Browne.
Teams will be chosen from:Guyana: Ramnaresh Sarwan (captain), Travis Dowlin, Royston Crandon, Leon Johnson, Gajanand Singh, Narsingh Deonarine, Assad Fudadin, Derwin Christian, Zaheer Mohammed, Esaun Crandon, Trevon Garraway, Brandon Bess and Veerasammy Permaul.
Jamaica: Tamar Lambert (captain), Wavell Hinds, Xavier Marshall, Brendan Nash, Shawn Findlay, Donovan Pagon, Nikita Miller, Odean Brown, Jermaine Lawson, Andre Russell, David Bernard, Carlton Baugh Jr., Keith Hibbert.
