Guyana’s National Under-17 Coach, Garvin Nedd said his team was in high spirits and was raring to participate in the West Indies Cricket Board’s Regional U17 tournament which begins Monday in Trinidad and Tobago.
The team departed Guyana early this morning.
The team had been encamped for approximately two weeks and participated in numerous training sessions with Nedd at the Chetram Singh Centre of Excellence, La Bonne Intention (LBI), East Coast Demerara, where the young cricketers were drilled and had productive net sessions in the indoor facility.
According to Nedd, who spoke with Stabroek Sport last evening, the team was relaxed and confident heading into the tournament and are prepared to give a good account of themselves when they head out to the field next week.
“The guys are pretty confident and are eager to give a good account of themselves when the competition begins,” said Nedd.
He stated that the team was not only banking on their confidence and form to win, but was prepared to execute strategies depending on the situation and conditions of each match.
“As a coach it is important to have a game plan. We will be taking ours game by game. We don’t want to look too far ahead but we will be implementing certain strategies based on the situation and conditions we are faced with, Nedd added.
The team is being led by all-rounder Travis Persaud and includes the in form Berbice opening batsman, Shimron Hetemyer, Essequibo U17 skipper and all rounder Kemo Paul, wicket keeper/batsman Ryan Adams, batsman Ronaldo Renee, among other players who came through the National U15 levels and displayed good form in last month’s U17 Inter county competition, in which performers earned their National U17 selection.
Team Manager, Nazeer Mohamed pointed out that the team found camaraderie during their period of encampment which made them familiar with each other.
“We are very focussed heading into this tournament. We would have liked to play some outdoor games but due to the inclement weather, we were forced to hold our training indoors,” he said.
Mohamed added that the players were ready to go out and make their country and themselves proud by winning the first match which is against the Windward Islands on Monday.
The tournament is scheduled to conclude on July 8, with Guyana facing the Windward Islands on Monday in the opening match in Trinidad.
The Guyana team reads: Travis Persaud (Capt.), Shimron Hetemyer (Vice-Capt.), Grisean Grant, Travis Drakes, Ronaldo Renee, Brandon Persaud, Parmesh Parsotam, Kemo Paul, Sherfane Rutherford, Daniel Lewis, Keanu Harry, Navendra Persaud, Permanand Ramdhan and Ryan Adams( wicket keeper).
