-President’s Cup limited overs competition bowls off with eight teams and four matches today
GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – Defending champions Trinidad & Tobago and regional four-day title-holders Jamaica will clash in the feature match of the opening round in the WICB President’s Cup limited-overs competition today at Providence.
For the first time ever in a regional competition, four matches will be played on the same day with hosts Guyana set to face Leeward Islands at Enmore, Barbados to face the Young West Indies at Bourda Oval, and Combined Campuses & Colleges to battle Windward Islands at Everest.
Interest in the tournament is high since all of the senior players have been mandated to play to be eligible for West Indies selection.
The Jamaica squad has 11 players with the experience of playing for the West Indies.
They include Dave Bernard Jr., and Nikita Miller, who were part of the recent makeshift regional team.
Today’s game against T&T should be a keen tussle. The Trinbagonians exhibited great solidarity in the Champions League Twenty20 tournament in India, and, with no less than nine players with Dave Bernard West Indies experience in the side, should start as one of the tournament favourites.
The team, however may not be at its best, since the players may still be suffering the after-effects of jetlag, following their long trip back from India, a brief stop over at home on Monday, and a late-night trip into Guyana last night.
They’ll need to be at their best though since the Jamaicans will be looking to bring them back down to earth.
The Trinidad side will need to find a way to stop Chris Gayle.The Jamaica captain is the most destructive limited-overs batsman in the world and if he gets going on the lightning fast outfield and flat track, the T&T bowlers will find themselves under tremendous pressure.
Brenton Parchment, Wavell Hinds, Danza Hyatt, Shawn Findley, Xavier Marshall, Carlton Baugh Jr., Bernard Jr.,, and the solid Brendon Nash give Jamaica a strong batting line-up.
In Jerome Taylor and Andrew Richardson, the Jamaicans also have arguably two of the best fast bowlers in the region.
Darren Powell has enough international experience to make him a force at this level, while Bernard Jr., with his steady medium-pace, left-arm spinner Miller, and leg-spinner Odean Brown should relish the sluggish Guyana pitches.
With their confidence high, and Adrian Barath and Williams Perkins in good limited-overs form, T&T can also post a massive total,
especially if the Bravo brothers, Dwayne and Darren, Lendl Simmons, Denesh Ramdin, the Ganga siblings, Daren and Sherwin, the pugnacious Kieron Pollard, and Navin Stewart get going.
Ravi Rampaul will be looking to continue his fine bowling from the CLT20, while Stewart and the spin attack of Sherwin Ganga, Dave Mohamed, and Samuel Badree will hope to utilise the slow surface.
At Enmore, Ramnaresh Sarwan will hope that his batting can deliver a winning total on what should be a slow track.
In Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, and Narsingh Deonarine, Guyana possess one of the best middle-orders in the tournament.
Sewnarine Chattergoon and Travis Dowlin should set a solid tone for them at the top of the order.
But the key for the Guyanese to reverse their recent losing trend will be their bowling which is vastly inexperienced.
Esuan Crandon is likely to share the new ball with all-rounder Chris Barnwell, while Davendra Bishoo and Veerasammy Permaul will lead the spin attack.
It remains to be seen however, if they will be able to keep a typically aggressive Leewards batting line-up under wraps.
The Leewards batting run deep with Runako Morton, Kieran Powell, Wilden Cornwall, Chesney Hughes, Steve Liburd, Codville Rogers, Tonito Willett, Jahmar Hamilton, and Gavin Tonge, all capable of turning a match with the bat.
Tonge and Lionel Baker give the Leewards a potent new-ball attack, while spinners Anthony Martin and Justin Athanaze will have to be on target if their team is to prevail.
At Bourda, the YWI will look to their captain Andre Creary and 17-year-old Barbadian batting prodigy Kraigg Brathwaite to lead their batting with support from hometown boy Trevon Griffith.
But their bowling will also face a tough challenge against the “big boys” as the YWI prepare for next year’s Youth World Cup in New Zealand.
Barbados will recall their previous match against the YWI, when they bowled them out for 19 and won handsomely.
And, at Everest, Windwards – under new captain Darren Sammy – will look to get the better of the CCC – under the incumbent West Indies captain Floyd Reifer.
Both teams will be looking to make an impression in the competition, and a victory would be a sound start.
Squads:BARBADOS (from): Ryan Hinds (captain), Sulieman Benn, Tino Best, Rashidi Boucher, Jonathan Carter, Nikolai Charles, Fidel Edwards, Kirk Edwards, Alcindo Holder, Carlo Morris, Martin Nurse, Kemar Roach, Dwayne Smith, Kevin Stoute.
COMBINED CAMPUSES & COLLEGES (from): Floyd Reifer (captain), Ryan Austin, Khismar Catlin, Romel Currency, Simon Jackson, Kavesh Kantasingh, Kevin McClean, Gilford Moore, Kjorn Ottley, Nekoli Parris, Omar Phillips, Gavin Wallace, Chadwick Walton, Kurt Wilkinson.
GUYANA (from): Ramnaresh Sarwan (captain), Chris Barnwell, Davendra Bishoo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Esuan Crandon, Royston Crandon, Narsingh Deonarine, Travis Dowlin, Deon Ferrier, Assad Fudadin, Trevon Garraway, Delbert Hicks, Veerasammy Permaul.
JAMAICA (from): Chris Gayle (captain), Carlton Baugh Jr, David Bernard Jr, Odean Brown, Shawn Findlay, Wavell Hinds, Danza Hyatt, Xavier Marshall, Nikita Miller, Brendon Nash, Brenton Parchment, Daren Powell, Andrew Richardson, Jerome Taylor.
LEEWARD ISLANDS (from): Steve Liburd (captain), Justin Athanaze, Lionel Baker, Wilden Cornwall, Jahmar Hamilton, Chesney Hughes, Anthony Martin, Runako Morton, Elsroy Powell, Kieran Powell, Codville Rogers, Gavin Tonge, Tonito Willett, Gavin Williams.
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO (from): Daren Ganga (captain), Adrian Barath, Samuel Badree, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Sherwin Ganga, Imran Khan, Dave Mohammed, William Perkins, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Lendl Simmons, Navin Stewart.
WINDWARD ISLANDS (from): Darren Sammy (captain), Miles Bascombe, Deighton Butler, Craig Emmanuel, Andre Fletcher, Donwell Hector, Rawl Lewis, Garey Mathurin, Mervin Matthew, Nelon Pascal, Liam Sebastien, Shane Shillingford, Devon Smith, Tyrone Theophile.
YOUNG WEST INDIES (from): Andre Creary (captain), Jermaine Blackwood, Nelson Bolan, Kraigg Brathwaite, John Campbell, Yannick Carriah, Akeem Dewar, Shane Dowrich, Nicholson Gordon, Trevon Griffith, Kirk Harris, Patrick Harty, Jason Holder, Keon Joseph, Evin Lewis, Yannick Ottley, Dalton Polius, Kejel Tyson, Kelbert Walters, Jomel Warrican.
