Former national middle order batsman Ravindranauth Seeram who has a level two coaching certificate has replaced the long-serving Albert Smith as coach of the Guyana national cricket team for the remainder of the present West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) four-day tournament.
With Guyana having its worse start (0-4) in Regional four-day history since the competition is being sponsored, the executives of the GCB led by re-elected president Chetram Singh met and decided that a turn around is needed in the interest of the team, hence the replacement of the coach as an alternative.
“A decision was taken to replace the coach thus Mr. Ravindranauth Seeram was selected for the remainder of this tournament. Amongst the discussion that was held was the inconsistency of the team’s batting,“ said Singh at a press briefing held in the GCB boardroom yesterday.
The 51-year old Smith was the man in charge of Guyana’s successful under-19 team that won six consecutive titles from 1993-1999, before he was appointed coach of the under-15 team for a two-year period.
He then took over the senior team in 2002 and among his title winning achievements was the inaugural 2006 Stanford 20/20 title, which preceded the 2003 Busta International Shield and the 2005 KFC Regional Limited overs titles respectively.
But after the Stanford title, Guyana’s senior team has not won any other Regional title and things went further under the water when the team did not only suffer three consecutive losses in last year’s Regional four-day tournament, but also failed to make the final four of the limited overs tournament.
“With five straight games at home, we are hoping for a turnaround in fortunes and results from the team. Seeram’s input as a former middle order batsman would be essential also as none of our batsmen who got starts in those losses were able to put two innings together.”
“We must be aware that in some of the matches we were without the services of three or at times in the case of the Nevis match five of our regular players, not that the reserves could not take their place. And this goes with a decision the GCB made two years ago where it was decided that it was time that some of the older players, namely Mahendra Nagamootoo, Reon King and Neil Mc Garrell all former West Indies players, must go,” said Singh. He continued: “If you look at the present 16-man squad chosen to train from which the final 13 would be selected to vie for a place against Jamaica, nine of them are younger than 23 and in my mind, they are not coming along as quickly as we thought even though they have the talent.”
“Some of them won the Regional under-19 tournament for us, so it was decided to hand them a new coach to see if new ideas could flow into the team, or whether that would help the situation.”
The 47-year-old Seeram who played 41 first class matches and averaged 35.03 commenced his duties yesterday when he took the team through their preparations for their upcoming encounter against tournament leaders Jamaica from tomorrow at the National Stadium.
According to Singh, King’s name was being mentioned in the reckoning but it was suggested, and he approved also, that King who served as Smith’s assistant during the latter stages of last year’s tournament, would be more at home working with Guyana’s junior teams.
“In my mind, coaches and managers, start at an age where they are familiar with the players who have played with them and in this case you would find that King who is a very good coach has played with a lot of these players and history would tell you that at his age, King would be an ideal coach at the under-15 and under-19 level, as they would have respect for him,” stated Singh.
While stating that many names were among the list of candidates, the executive committee of the GCB opted for Seeram ahead of King, his front runner for the position.
Meanwhile, the newly-selected senior selection panel of the GCB headed by Claude Raphael selected a 16-man squad who had their first practice session at the National Stadium, Providence, yesterday.
West Indies left handed opener Sewnarine Chattergoon along with his Albion Sports Club teammate Veerasamy Permaul are not included due to injuries, but according to Singh, a directive from the chairman of selectors of the WICB Clyde Butts stated that all the West Indies players would be available for their team’s seventh round matches.
“I must say that barring an excuse from the West Indies team physiotherapist, all West Indies players will be available for their respective country’s seventh round of matches. This is a directive issued from the chairman of selectors Clyde Butts.”
The 16-man squad reads: Travis Dowlin, Shemroy Barrington, Assad Fudadin, Homchand Pooran, Narsingh Deonarine, Leon Johnson, Royston Crandon, Gajanand Singh, Steven Jacobs, Darwin Christian, Davendra Bishoo, Zaheer Mohammed, Christopher Barnwell, Esaun Crandon, Brandon Bess and Trevon Garraway.