The Guyana National Under-19 team departed yesterday for the 2013 West Indies Cricket Board U-19 three-day cricket tournament in St Kitts and Nevis. The team will be looking to get off to a winning start when they take on Barbados in the first game.
Captain of the squad, Shawn Pereira, in an interview with Stabroek Sport at the Windjammers Hotel yesterday, said that the team is aiming to make this year’s edition of the Tournament, the 14th win for Guyana.
Pereira, who hails from the Ancient County, Berbice also, said that the team has been dedicated in their training and had had a few practice matches, with good performances coming from the players.
The captain said he will be looking to lead from the front, setting a good example for his fellow team mates. The all-rounder also noted that he is looking for great support from Vice Captain Kamesh Yadram, Gudakesh Motie-Kanhai, Brian Sattaur and Tagenarine Chanderpaul.
Coach of the squad, Adrian Amsterdam while expressing confidence in the team recording a victory, said that last year’s second place finish was a result of the team having a let-down in their fast bowling.
According to Amsterdam, Guyana’s strength in the bowling capacity lies in spin, “Last year the fast bowling point system was the fall down. Guyana’s strength lies in spin and the other teams had better fast bowlers than the set we had,” he said.
However, he was optimistic that the team will produce a better performance than last year since he believes that this team has a stronger bowling and batting side.
The coach also indicated that the training did not go as planned because of the inclement weather but said they had substituted with indoor training sessions. While indicating that all the players were injury free, Amsterdam said, “The fitness level of the players is not 100% but it is enough to earn a victory.”
The team’s batting line-up will rely heavily on openers, Sattaur and Shimron Hetemeyer who have been in great form recently, both scoring hundreds in the respective U-19 and U-17 competitions.
Another is the young Chanderpaul who has been in good form and looked solid during the U-19 inter-county tournament. Yadram, keeper Akshay Homraj and Romario Shepherd-De Jonge will all be depended on heavily to give support with the bat.
The bowling department boasts a line-up of spinners such as: Herry Green, Motie-Kanhai, Pereira, Ricardo Adams and Steven Sankar. They will bring a wealth of talented spin bowling. The Team: (Captain) Shawn Pereira, (Vice Captain) Kamesh Yadram, Brian Sattaur, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Shimron Hetemyer, Denesh Mangal, Vishal Narayan, Akshay Homraj, Gudakesh Motie-Kanhai, Ricardo Adams, Steven Sankar, Dexter George, Herry Green and Romario Shepherd-De Jonge, Coach Adrian Amsterdam, Manager David Black.
