No!!! We are not talking about 20/20 cricket, but rather the battle for supremacy in the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) /El Dorado sponsored 50 overs-a-side limited overs cricket competition which will bowl off today with defending champions Dem-erara taking on Essequibo at the Everest Cricket Club ground.
No doubt, the Cinderella County led by national fast bowler Trevon Garraway will be looking to pull off an upset victory over the Leon Johnson-led Demerara team.
But whether he has the necessary artillery to do that is left to be seen, as the Essequibians are known for putting up a fight only for one half of any match at any level over the years, and even though they defeated Dem-erara at the under-19 level (three-day) and Berbice also at the under-19 level (one-day) earlier this year, they still have not shown many signs of improvement in their game.
“We have a young side with lots of talent, and with two days of practice where the guys looked comfortable and expressed confidence, we are definitely going out there looking for a victory over a young Demerara side who will be missing the experienced services of West Indies players Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Travis Dowlin,” Garraway told Stabroek Sport in an invited comment.
“Generally, we will be looking for a good all round performance as we seek to make the finals which is being played under lights at the Guyana National Stadium and in order to do so, we will be looking to restrict Demerara anywhere in the vicinity of 175-185 bowling first and if we are asked to bat first, we will be looking to get 230 to 250 against their bowling attack which is not as strong as it used to be.”
In order for Garraway to achieve his aims, the entire Essequibo unit will have to definitely put in an all-round performance, starting with the batting that has been known to fold when well set.
The veteran Dinesh Joseph will be leading from the front with valuable support from wicketkeeper/batsman Wayne Osborne, the diminutive Yogeshwar Lall, Norman Fredericks and Andrew Williams.
Newcomers Navishal Pooran who is a hard hitting batsman and Mahase Richards and Jeewan Singh are all capable of rendering support to the top order batsmen, while Garraway, Robert Moore, Rakesh Goberdhan and Andrew Wong can also weigh in heavily with the bat.
Their bowling looks strong on paper, but how they perform on the flat Everest wicket is left to be seen. However Garraway, former national under-19 fast bowler Ryan Hercules and Trevor Benn, who is arguably the fittest cricketer in the country, are expected to do the damage with the new ball.
Spin will be taken care of by Moore, Goberdhan and Wong who can all be deadly on their day.
Even though they are without the services of Dowlin, Chanderpaul and Sarwan, Johnson told Stabroek Sport earlier that they are not fazed by that since Demerara have pulled off victories before without their services.
The Demerara batting will start with former national under-19 openers Shemroy Barrington, who can be explosive on his day, Rajendra Chandrika and Krishna Deosarran along with the dangerous Christopher Barnwell.
Add skipper Johnson who recently returned from a successful stint in England and Canada where he made his limited overs debut with the West Indies, former national under-19 captain and West Indies vice captain Steven Jacobs to the fray and definitely Essequibo will have a herculean task on their hands.
It does not stop there, as there is the inform Ravi Sarwan who will be coming into today’s game full of confidence following his century against the Guyana Defence Force in the Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA)/Pepsi-sponsored first division competition, as well as Orin Forde and Dion Ferrier. Former national under-19 all-rounder Kellon Carmichael, national off-spinner Zaheer Mohammed along with Sauid Drepaul and wicketkeeper /batsman Joseph Perry can all weigh in with the bat, which means that Garraway’s intentions of reducing Demerara to 175, is left to be seen.
The Demerara bowling even though it is not as strong as previous ones, can hold their own on their day. It is a spin based one, with the fast bowling department being led by Barnwell and the relatively unknown Dion Carew who bowled impressively during the two trial matches on the same Everest wicket, with support from Carmichael.
The heavily based spin department will be led by Mohammed, with support from left-arm spinner Drepaul, Forde, Ferrier, Jacobs and to a lesser extent Johnson and Sarwan.
Play is set to start at 09:30hrs.
Team Demerara from: Leon Johnson, Shemroy Barrington, Rajendra Chandrika, Christopher Barnwell, Krishna Deosarran, Steven Jacobs, Orin Forde, Zaheer Mohammed, Sauid Drepaul, Ravi Sarwan, Joseph Perry, Dion Ferrier, Kellon Carmichael and Dion Carew.
Team Essequibo from: Trevon Garraway, Wayne Osborne, Rakesh Goberdhan, Dinesh Joseph, Yogeshwar Lall, Robert Moore, Andrew Wong, Andrew Williams, Norman Fredericks, Ryan Hercules, Trevor Benn, Jeewan Singh, Navishal Pooran and Mahase Richards.