While on paper Guyana has arguably one of the most solid teams going into the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Regional Four-Day tournament scheduled to begin January 8 in Jamaica, the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) is ensuring that its 14-man team goes into the tournament well prepared for the challenges.
Last year Guyana finished last in the two-round format after suffering humiliating outright defeats to the Windward Islands and Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC).
The first GCB organized three-day match for the national team for the new year begins on Wednesday.
The teams will be led by West Indies number three batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan and the Invitational XI, by out-of-favour batsman Leon Johnson.
The match will begin at 9.30am at the Georgetown Cricket Club ground. It will be the second three-day practice match for the national cricketers after the first ground to a tame draw at the Eve Leary ground last December.
What should be markedly different for this game, however, is the return of Sarwan, former ICC number one batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Travis Dowlin and first class cricketer of the year Narsingh Deonarine, who became the first batsman to score a 1,000 runs in a first class season, is an elevated standard of play after contesting the three-test series Down Under.
In the first practice match the national side looked ordinary with only middle order batsman Assad Fudadin, (who scored a century) and opening bowler Esaun Crandon (who made 44) making any significant scores.
The middle order had an all-too-familiar batting collapse which had prompted coach Rabindranauth Seeram to say that he was “concerned with the collapse of the middle order,” which last year was without Sarwan and Chanderpaul.
Hopefully for Wednesday’s match the quartet’s patience to build an innings will have an impact on the younger players in the team who have a tendency to be impulsive and throw their wickets away.
The public would have seen during the WICB regional limited overs tournament that when the top four batsmen applied themselves (albeit at different times) Guyana won until they lost the final to defending champions Trinidad & Tobago.
Meanwhile, for Wednesday’s game former WI opening batsman Sewnarine Chattergoon will be returning at the top of the order after sitting out of the first practice match with a chronic back injury.
Dowlin, whose good form propelled him into the WI team, will be his partner while the middle order sanctuary will be protected by Sarwan, Chanderpaul, Deonarine, Fudadin and WI one-day player and most improved cricketer of 2009, Royston Crandon.
Esaun Crandon, Brandon Bess, Trevor Benn, the lone debutant in this year’s team, will spearhead the fast bowling attack while Guyana’s most lethal spin detail of Veerasammy Permaul and Devendra Bishoo will do the bulk of the bowling due to slow nature of pitches in the Caribbean.
On the Inviatational XI Team the line-up is no less solid on paper except for the fact that most of the players find themselves there because of continuous lacklustre performances at all levels.
Johnson, Christopher Barnwell, (who redeemed himself somewhat with a century in the first practice match), Steven Jacobs and Shemroy Barrington readily come to mind.
On the other hand, the team is not short of batsmen with rich form at the moment. Vishal `Cheesy’ Singh, who made a half century in the first game and an unbeaten century in the GCB three-day first division tournament, Rajendra Chandrika, former national opening batsman Krishna Arjune and Deon Ferrier, also coming off centuries in the tournament, come to mind; Gajanand Singh also will lend great support.
In the bowling department pacers Trevon Garraway and Keyron Fraser will be raring to go while Totaram Bishun and Steven Latcha will aid in the spin bowling areas.
Guyana Team (from): Ramnaresh Sarwan (Captain), Sewnarine Chattergoon (Vice captain), Travis Dowlin, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Assad Fudadin, Royston Crandon, Derwin Christian (wicketkeeper), Trevor Benn, Easun Crandon, Verasammy Permaul, Brandon Bess and Devendra Bishoo.
Invitational (XI) Team (from): Leon Johnson (Captain), Rajendra Chandrika, Christopher Barnwell, Shemroy Barrington, Vishal Singh, Gajanand Singh, Steven Jacobs, Deon Ferrier, Krishna Arjune, Anthony Bramble (wicketkeeper), Totaram Bishun, Trevon Garraway, Keyron Fraser and Steven Latcha.
