The year 2008 was not a successful one for Guyana on the field of play as no silverware was added to the cabinet but off the field, the GCB experienced success, according to president of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Chetram Singh.
“Whilst we did not add any silverware to our cabinet, the GCB did enjoy success off the field of play in more ways than one. It started with the hosting of the first test match at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, and ended with Shivnarine Chanderpaul being awarded the International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricketer-of- the-Year Award.”
Chanderpaul later on went onto to surpass Sir Garfield Sobers, to take over the number three spot for the West Indies on the all time scoring list, whilst he sits atop the list with the most half centuries. He also has the most test centuries by a Guyanese, surpassing Clive Lloyd, who once topped the list with 19.
The longest serving West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) director Singh, added: “Our Carib Beer team played its first three games away from home where they failed to pick up any points and at the end of the tournament, they were in the penultimate position.
“The Guyana/Stanford Twenty20 team also failed to retain its title won in 2006, despite the inclusion of Chanderpaul and to a lesser extent, Sewnarine Chattergoon as Jamaica extracted revenge with a close one-run victory in the semi final,” said Singh.
Amidst all this, Chattergoon became the latest West Indies test player from Guyana, when he was called up for international duty with the Regional side after the first round of matches in the Carib Beer series.
Later in the year, Leon Johnson joined him, making his limited overs debut for the West Indies during a tour of Canada.
The Guyana/TCL Under-19 team also failed in its bid to defend its title.
They started their defence with two successive victories over the Leeward and Windward Islands respectively with a comeback effort against the latter after losing first innings points but faded in the latter part of the competition.
A rain-ruined, third-round encounter against hosts Barbados, followed by losses on first innings to Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago respectively, saw the local boys fall from top-of-the-table after two rounds, to fourth overall at the end of the three-day competition.
Only Seon Hetymyer who scored 105 against T&T managed to record a century for Guyana who conceded four whilst a stubborn batting display from skipper Eugene La Fleur spoke volumes for his future in the sport, especially his innings against the Windward Islands and Jamaica.
In the bowling department, the Guyanese presented the fastest bowler in the tournament, in the likes of 16-year-old Keon Joseph but at times he lacked direction and control and while much was expected of Totaram Bishun and Stephen Latcha, it was left to La Fleur with his orthodox left arm spin to help stabilize the opposing batsmen.
The national under-15 side did not perform badly either, but failed to win the tournament.
Their only justification was the selection of right arm leg spinner Amir Khan to the West Indies team for the Clico sponsored under-15 Invitational tournament.
Guyana hosted a round of that tournament with teams from Pakistan, Holland, Bangladesh and the Americas competing in matches held at the National Stadium and the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) ground Bourda respectively.
Khan’s wily leg-spin helped the West Indies avenge an earlier loss to Pakistan in the league format in the limited overs competition which they won.
On the local scene, Malteenoes Sports Club won the GCB/Carib Beer/Pepsi Twenty20 competition when they defeated Albion Sports Club in the final with Rose Hall Town Windies Sports Bar (RHTWSB) finishing third, having defeated Leguan.
Young Warriors of Berbice defeated Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) to win the GCB/Neal and Massy nationwide, first-division 40 overs-a side competition while the 2008 GCB/Pepsi/Carib Beer nationwide first-division competition is winding down with RHTWSB having advanced to the national semi finals from Berbice.
There was some on field drama when Chanderpaul left the team during its Carib Beer game against the Windward Islands at the National Stadium, Providence to go to Trinidad and Tobago to uplift an award.
That action provoked not only the Guyanese cricket public, but also the opposition with the Windwards manager stating that it was not a ‘curry goat’ match.
Another such incident, was that of the now recovering Ranole Bourne, who left a Demerara Under-19 trial match at the Demerara Cricket Club ground, under the pretense that he was injured, to go and continue his innings for his club Guyana National Industrial Corporation (GNIC) in a Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA) Cellink Plus sponsored first division competition.
Both the manager and coach claimed to be unaware of his whereabouts, stating that they felt he was at the hospital seeking attention for his injury. Bourne, who is a useful bowler, was handling the ball very well on the field of play.
Suffice to say, he was selected to represent Demerara in the Inter-county competition, but suffered a broken thigh bone in the game against Berbice and only resumed playing last month. Not long after there was the rift between the Demerara Cricket Board (DCB) and the GCB over the latter’s selection policy for the President’s Cup competition with the DCB claiming that their chairman of selectors was not invited to the selection meeting. Then came the fiasco wherein Georgetown Cricket Association’s (GCA) representative on the DCB selection panel, Roderick Lovell was asked to be excused from what he called a bingo selection. Lovell told the media that he was requested to sign on the dotted line without any input at the meeting.
According to Lovell, the other selectors came to the meeting with the team already chosen and all that was required of him to do was affix his signature, thus endorsing the team without any input. The GCB needs to have a proper review of the events which transpired throughout the year to ensure that come 2009, some events are not repeated.
