Co-defending Regional limited overs champions the Leeward Islands (who tied with Barbados at Sabina Park in last year’s final) and the Windward Islands are expected to arrive in Guyana this weekend in order to have an early acclimatisation camp ahead of the Regional Super50 one-day tournament which is scheduled to bowl off in Guyana on October 18.
The Windwards, who are in Group `A’ along with hosts Guyana, Barbados and the Sagicor High Performance Centre (HPC), will be led by recently discarded West Indies test opener Devon Smith.
Smith was one of several players excluded from the list of names of players who are set to be offered retainer contracts by the West Indies Cricket Board for the 2011/12 season.
According to a Guyana Cricket Board official, the Windwards have confirmed that they will be arriving on October 13 while the Leewards, who are in Group B., is yet to co0nfirm the date of their arrival.
The other Group A and Group B teams such as Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) teams will be arriving on October 17.
Meanwhile, the Guyana national team continued its preparation for the competition with another net session yesterday at the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) Ground, Bourda.
According to manager David Black, the team has another session at an unconfirmed venue tomorrow before another scheduled practice match at the Providence National Stadium during the week.
Black also stated that Guyana and West Indies middle order batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan, who has also missed out on being offered a retainer contract by the WICB, is continuing his rehabilitation work and would not be involved in any of the upcoming practice games before the start of tournament.
Sarwan, said Black, is set to undergo a fitness test on Friday.
