PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Azim Bassarath believes that defending champions Guyana benefitted from their participation in the recent Twenty20 festival matches here.
The president of the Trinidad & Tobago Cricket Board has identified the Guyanese as a side to watch in the upcoming Caribbean Twenty20 Championship. Bassarath also feels that the Guyanese showed the benefits of playing in the Champions League Twenty20 last September in South Africa, and this will be a telling factor in the CT20.
“When Guyana came to Trinidad for the T20 Cricket Festival, they were caught off guard by our A-Team and lost the match easily,” said Bassarath.
“The very next game they were a different side against the Academy team. They showed focus, and were determined to put up a good performance and this they did.”
“They seem to be a professional outfit, and appear to be thriving well under coach Rabindranauth Seeram.”
Bassarath added that the form of captain Ramnaresh Sarwan and top batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul will be key to Guyana’s chances of retaining the title.
“Although it is T20, and ‘slam-bang cricket’, there is still a place for the classy touch players, and how Sarwan and Chanderpaul respond to the task may well tell how far Guyana goes in the tournament,” he said.
Bassarath was however, confident that T&T can once again rise to the top and become champions.
“We can go out there with a strong team on paper, but what matters is how you play on the day,” he said.
“T20 cricket is very unpredictable, as one player can have a good day and win a match for his team.”
He concluded: “There is no room for errors, and the team that eliminates the most errors will win the tournament, so I am confident that T&T can go out there and deliver.”
Guyana face Jamaica in their opening match of the CT20 on January 10 at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground, where T&T face Leeward Islands three days later.
