– GCB officials

By Marlon Munroe

Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) officials yesterday lamented the absence of national caption Ramnaresh Sarwan from Guyana’s opening game of the 2010 regional four-day competition.

President of the (GCB) Chetram Singh said Sarwan’s loss will cause a huge dent in the line-up.

Carl Moore, manager of the team which departs tomorrow for Antigua where they will take on Trinidad and Tobago, said yesterday he hoped that the young batsmen would be able to step up.

Sarwan has played 186 first class matches and scored 11,623 runs with 30 centuries and 62 half centuries.

Moore said Sarwan had been complaining of pains ever since he returned from the three-test series against Australia.

“The injury kept him out of the second practice match at the Georgetown Cricket Club ground since he was receiving treatment at a private hospital in the city,” said Moore.

Sarwan’s injury comes on the heels of Test batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul who was also ruled out of Guyana’s opening fixture which starts Friday at the Sir Vivian Richards’ Stadium in Antigua.

The two batsmen have been replaced by two 20-year-olds Vishal `Cheesy’ Singh and Rajendra `Rahul’ Chandrika.

Singh and Chandrika both scored centuries at the senior Inter-County level last year and have been in good nick for the most part of last year.

Their exploits with the bat last year and in the two practice matches made them automatic choices to replace the two stalwarts of Guyana’s batting and the two were already identified as possible replacements when Chanderpaul and Sarwan return to Australia for the One-Day Series.

Now, the brunt of the batting will be placed on the shoulders of three players with test experience, opening batsman Sewnarine Chattergoon and middle order batsmen Travis Dowlin and Narsingh Deonarine who were members of the West Indies team which toured Down Under late last year.

Chattergoon, who has four Tests and 63 first class matches under his belt, will have the added responsibility of being the captain on his slim shoulders.

He will have as his deputy the in-form Assad Fudadin, who is coming off back-to-back centuries in the GCB-organised practice matches.

The loss of Chanderpaul and Sarwan is a big blow to the team’s chances of atoning for last year’s poor showing where they placed last with 33 points losing along the way to the Windward Islands and the Combined Campuses and Colleges teams.

Team coach Rabind-ranauth Seeram says that while Sarwan’s loss is a costly one, he hopes that the younger players will vindicate their selection and that good sense will prevail in their approach while at the crease throughout the tournament.