The capitulation Monday night in Antigua by the Amazon Conquerors in the first match of their title defence of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Twenty20 cricket series which is being televised by the ESPN network was nothing but shameful.
To be dismissed by Jamaica in 17.3 overs of a 20- overs-a-side game for a paltry score of 65 is certainly not what fans expected of the defending champions.
What that opening game showed was that the batsmen failed to adopt the proper approach and paid dearly for it.
In the face of what seemed nothing more than disciplined bowling attack, it was a spineless display by a side boasting several players who have had the experience of playing international cricket.
Only two batsmen reached double figures opening batsman Travis Dowlin and Royston Crandon who should bat much higher.
If the truth be told, the Guyana batsmen looked like a bunch of amateur cricketers competing against one of the mighty IPL franchise teams.
The Guyana bowlers did well to restrict the Jamaicans to 115-7 which made the required target less than a run a ball.
Yet the batsmen made heavy weather of such a small target.
Looking at the way the batsmen approached the target it seemed as if they were chasing a much bigger score or the bowling was much more potent than it appeared.
Coach Rabindranauth Seeram’s excuse that the team lacked turf practice simply won’t cut it.
A champion team must know what it has to do in order to properly prepare for a successful title defence. Seeram should have ensured that no stone was turned in the quest for a successful defence.
And it does not matter how much turf practice a team gets if its players are unable to execute the team’s plans and strategies accurately on the field of play.
The Guyana team Monday night seemed at sea, out of its depth and this, one feels, had a lot to do with the batting order which seemed to rely too much on the experienced players.
It was the same situation at the Airtel Champions League tournament last year and it seems as if Seeram and the rest of the management party have not yet learnt that it is explosive hitting (a la Jonathan Foo) which will win matches.
One would have thought that the team’s defeat against the Trinidad `A’ team in the four team series prior to this tournament would have rung warning bells for Seeram but that does not seem to be the case.
This team, as it showed in last year’s Airtel Champions League tournament, seems incapable of learning from its mistakes and unless it is able to do so in the remaining games, the Amazon Conquerors could just as well kiss their hopes of a successful title defence goodbye.
