Praises have been pouring in for Guyana and West Indies middle order batsman Narsingh Deonarine, who became the first man to score 1,000 runs in a West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) first class season.
Deonarine started Guyana’s penultimate round match against Jamaica in need of 50 runs to achieve that goal and he duly got there as he made 63 out of Guyana’s first innings score of 308, before returning to battle the flu and the Jamaicans in Guyana’s second innings, scoring 55 from the 190 all out.
President of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Chetram Singh offered his congratulations to Deonarine, calling it an achievement by itself.
“To score 1,000 runs in 11 matches is great. It’s an achievement by itself, which shows that he is still hungry for runs and I want to offer my congratulations to Narsingh Deonarine, who also displayed a commitment and hunger for runs every time he takes to the wicket.”
But while Deonarine was inking his name in the regional record books, the team’s dismal performance continued and the 59-year-old Singh who has been at the helm of Guyana’s cricket for the past 18 years and at the same time a WICB Director, wasted no time in highlighting that, stating that a review will be done.
“There is not much I can say on the team’s performance at the moment, as the details which include the manager, coach and captain’s reports have to be submitted so we can decipher where and what went wrong.”
He further stated, “At the end of each tournament, a de-briefing session is held involving the three main personnel of our national teams. This will be done at the end of this tournament, as persons need to know what went wrong and where it went wrong.”
“Having said that, we will be looking forward to next year’s tournament which will be played on a double round system again, as we don’t want a repeat of this year’s performance.
While there will be room for losses, six losses from a team of such stature is unacceptable,” said Singh.
Singh also showered praise on the national female Under-19 and male Under-15 teams, following their respective victories in the WICB tournament.
“Whilst the performance of the senior team has not lived up to expectations, our two junior teams got successful starts in their respective competitions, and along with Deonarine’s feat, serves as welcome news for Guyana’s cricket.”
Meanwhile, former secretary of the GCB Bish Panday was high in praise of Deonarine, and noted that the middle order batsman has been an inspiration as well as a disappointment to his many fans.
“I am very happy with Narsingh’s performance in this tournament. He has always displayed that appetite to score heavily, but over the years he has been a source of inspiration and disappointment to his many fans out there.”
Panday said further, “He is extremely talented and I know that if he works hard, he will achieve success and I trust that this performance this year will give him the self-belief and confidence to regain his place in the final eleven of the West Indies team and at the same time, secure it.”
With one round left to play, Deonarine who has so far accumulated 1,068 of Guyana’s 4,535 runs at an average of 59.33 with two centuries and seven half centuries will be looking for some valuable batting practice ahead of the West Indies return tour to England later this month.