The 2011 Guyana Cricket Board/EL Dorado limited overs cricket competition gets underway today with two matches.
Essequibo tackles Demerara at Bourda while defending champions Berbice host the President’s X1 at Blairmont in West Bank Berbice. The Demerara, President XI and Essequibo teams had practice sessions at Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) and Bourda respectively yesterday, while Berbice’s session at Blairmont ground, according to coach Adrian Amsterdam was cancelled owing to rain in the area.
Demerara practiced at DCC from 1 pm to 4 pm where according to Coach Orin Bailey the batsmen and bowlers were placed under targeted scenarios. The batsmen batted in pairs, where they had 20 minutes or 6-8 overs of individual batting and were set hypothetical targets to achieve in that time period. The bowlers were encouraged to maintain good lines and lengths by bowling into the “corridor of uncertainty” for the majority of their spells.
The local county’s batting strength will be dented by several key players missing—regular wicket-keeper Derwin Christian and all-rounder Christopher Barnwell due to West Indies commitments in the upcoming Twenty20 series in England on September 23 and 25, along with Ramnaresh Sarwan and Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) opener Rajendra Chandrika. Thus the onus for runs will rest with the likes of skipper Leon Johnson and Gajanand Singh especially.
Defending champions Berbice defeated Demerara in the final last October at Providence by five wickets and are quietly confident about their chances this year according to Coach Amsterdam.
“I expect the guys to perform well, since at the end of the day the larger goal of this tournament outside of aiming retain the title is for the individual players to compete hard since a place in the Guyana squad is up for grabs,” said Amsterdam.
When asked if he felt Berbice teams have built a psychological advantage over arch rivals Demerara in recent years, he responded that in his view it’s just a simple case that in recent times Berbice have been the better prepared side and played the best cricket on the day. The Essequibo side under the guidance of Vibert Johnson had their session at Bourda which included physical training and a net session. Johnson said his young team, which is made up of a few players who participated in the annual Guyana and Trinidad Mutual (GTM) Inter-County Under-19 tournament in July, is upbeat and he is fairly optimistic about how the youngsters in his side will perform.
Demerara squad: Leon Johnson (captain), Shemroy Barrington, Trevon Griffith, Gajanand Singh, Vishaul Singh, Robin Bacchus, Zaheer Mohaned, Amir Khan, Joseph Perry, Paul Wintz, Kellon Charmichael, Andre Still, Totaram Bishun, Elton Baker, Orin Bailey (Coach), Sherlock Atwell (Manager).
Berbice squad: Richard Ramdeen, Narsingh Deonarine, Royston Crandon, Jonathan Foo, Rajiv Ivan, Anthony Bramble, Devon Clements, Eugene La Fleur, Steven Latcha, Shawn Perriera, Krisendat Ramoo, Michael Newland, Keon Joseph, Assad Fudadin, Adrian Amsterdam (Coach)
Up to press time the Berbice captain was not confirmed, but sources say either Fudadin or Crandon is the likely candidate to get the nod.
Essequibo squad: Ransford Beaton (captain), Rovindra Parseram, Herrel Greene, Herry Greene, Yougeshwar Lall, Anthony Adams, Norman Fredricks, Royan Fredricks, Ricardo Adams, Tulsieram Permnauth, Tyron Narine, Kevin Gorden, Jason Helliger, Kevin Boddie. Vibert Johnson (Coach), Aotto Christiani (Manager)
President’s XI: Sewnarine Chattergoon, Artly Bailey, Travis Dowlin , Kristna Deonarine, Steven Jacobs, Dion Ferrier, Dexter Solomon, Raj Nanan, Chanderpaul Hemraj, Keyon Fraser, Joshua Wade, Clinton Pestano, Vijai Sureshpaul, and Jomal La Fleur.
