By Calvin Roberts
Manager of the Guyana TCL Under- 19 team Alvin Johnson yesterday told Stabroek Sport that he was satisfied with the level of fitness displayed by the players so far.
“After our two weekends of encampment, I must say that I am satisfied with the level of fitness displayed by the players to date.
“They are all in reasonable cricket fitness, but we still want to top on that,” said Johnson, who is president of the Essequibo Cricket Board and vice president of the Guyana Cricket Board.
“Over the past two encampments, we have been putting them through the beep test and the level displayed augurs well. We took them through some fitness drills and they were scheduled to participate in the Endurance Race in the National Park yesterday morning, but with the rain, we decided against such and resorted to the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall for another fitness session,” Johnson recounted.
Johnson, who began his career as a manager back in 2000 with the West Indies Development Under-19 team and took over as manager of the Guyana TCL team in 2003, said that the squad looked a good one and that he hoped the final team would be a balanced one.
“They (the selectors) are the ones who have to provide that balance with their selection. But with the fast wickets in Barbados along with the addition of the limited overs version, they do have a difficult task on hand with this present bunch of players they have to choose from.”
Guyana are the defending champions and, with nine players from last year including captain Steven Jacobs, ineligible for this tournament, the selectors will certainly have a task on their hands picking the team for this year’s tournament which is scheduled for Barbados.
Johnson is, however, pleased with the present bunch of players.
He said the players will have a break this weekend but will be back in camp from June 16-28, a period of 13 days.
“This 13-day camp will be important for the players. We will be focusing on cricket-related drills during this period with the occasional fitness tests in between. Added to that, we have organized, weather permitting, two, three-day and one limited-overs practice matches respectively.”
“I have invited Jeremiah Harris and Ryan Hercules two of our young fast bowlers to come and have a bowl at these youngsters with the view of extra pace in mind.”
There was only one minor hiccup during the last encampment where Georgetown Cricket Club’s Jeetendra Sookdeo, who suffers from asthma, took ill with a chest complaint.
“He (Sookdeo) complained of pains in the chest area so we took the pre-cautionary measures of having him checked out by the doctor after consulting his family and I must say that he is ok.
“Apart from this, there were no other causes of concern within the camp as all of the 20 players are injury free.”
Johnson stated that the camaraderie amongst the players was great at the moment while the response to the fitness drills was heartening.
“They have shown the togetherness that is needed in
uations like these. With regards to their fitness level that is being displayed, that came about from their recent involvement in the Inter County tournaments that preceded this encampment,” said Johnson.
The team will depart Guyana on July 2 for Barbados where they will oppose the Leeward Islands in their first game on July 4.
The limited-overs format will commence on August 4 with the top two teams from the two groups contesting the final.
