-Players now eye Champions League

By Floyd Christie
Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Dr. Frank Anthony yesterday met with members of the Guyana team which won the just-concluded West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) inaugural Caribbean Twenty20 Championships.

The meeting, which was hosted by the minister and held at the ministry’s office on Main Street, was closed to media operatives but attended by Director of Sports Neil Kumar, Team Captain Ramnaresh Sarwan, Coach Ravindranauth Seeram and other members of the Guyana team.

Minister Anthony disclosed to media personnel following the meeting that the aim of the gathering was to congratulate the team on its recent success and discuss the government’s input toward the team’s preparation for the Champions League next month.

“I wanted to meet with players of the Guyana team to extend my congratulations. I’m extremely pleased with the performance of the team,” Dr. Anthony related.

The minister pinpointed that he was especially pleased with the performance of the young Jonathan Foo, who according to the minister “really played a brilliant innings” as Guyana snatched a thrilling one-wicket win over Barbados in Saturday’s nail-biting final.

In relation to the team’s preparation Minister Anthony said:“The government will be helping in whatever way they can.

“The government is very pleased how our team performed and we hope that they continue such performances as they move forward to South Africa,” the minister added.

The Guyana team will be representing the Caribbean at the upcoming Champions League T20 cricket tournament in South Africa from September 10-26 and, according to Sarwan, who also spoke to media operatives, the team is “looking forward to the next month leading up to the tournament.”

The team will begin training for the upcoming Champions League at the Providence National Stadium, which the government will be making available for the team to conduct practice sessions leading up to their trip to South Africa.

Sarwan reiterated that the players “played brilliantly”, but emphasized that “preparation is very important.

“We have to prepare the best way we can… hopefully we’ll be well prepared so when we get there [South Africa] we hit the ground running.”

He thanked the Guyanese fans for their support and the members of his team, whom he has a “pretty good relationship with” describing them as the best spirited Guyana team he has experienced.

“Right throughout the tournament I got the full support from everyone, even the guys who were not playing… We deserved to win the tournament,” Sarwan said.

Minister Anthony is calling for the Guyanese public to rally around the team and show their support.

“By them going off to South Africa we’re making a name for this country and we’re making a name for the team and I really think they deserve our utmost support,” Dr. Anthony concluded.