Coach for the Guyana T20 squad, Esuan Crandon, yesterday said that the back-to-back matches against the Trinidad Red Force beginning today at the Guyana National Stadium, is a good opportunity to get some of the players ready for the upcoming senior inter-county season.
Organised by the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), the two T20s will also give the Trinidadians,
who qualified for the 2013 Champions League T20 tournament earlier in the year, some practice ahead of their quest which is slated to commence on September 17 in India.
The local team underwent two days of training; on Wednesday, the players did some sessions at the indoor facility located at LBI, East Coast Demerara, followed by a live match simulation at the Everest Cricket Club ground yesterday, with batsmen pairing up to score a certain amount of runs within a designated number of overs.
Crandon noted that the focus of today’s match is to “play to win” and it will be very important to perform well in front of their home crowd. He further stated that the two matches will be good for the players on both sides to “gel” and “feed off each other.”
The local squad is headed by all-rounder, Christopher Barnwell, who is fresh off a decent inaugural season of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), where he showed form with both bat and ball. He was appointed skipper after Ramnaresh Sarwan who was earlier handed the captaincy for the two matches, opted not to play.
A strong batting line-up comprising of youth and experience, featuring Leon Johnson, Narsingh Deonarine, Trevon Griffith, Anthony Bramble and all-rounders such as Steven Jacobs, Rajiv Ivan, Zaheer Mohamed and the skipper himself, will seek to dominate the Red Force bowlers.
The bowling unit including fast bowler Krishmar Santokie who will represent Guyana after his CPL player-of-the-tournament stint with the Amazon Warriors local franchise, Keon Joseph, Paul Wintz, and the ex-West Indies spin pair of Veerasammy Permaul and Devendra Bishoo, will form a formidable attack with local, regional and international experience.
Former national batsman, Robin Bacchus, will have his first crack at the Trinidadians at this level.
He along with the Berbician Ivan, are the new faces to the squad and their coach hopes that the two can take full advantage of the opportunity.
The Red Force, who are without the services of Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard, both who opted to represent their IPL franchises, features Lendl Simmons, who was the most prolific batsman for Guyana when he represented the Warriors in the CPL, along with Denesh Ramdin, Nicholas Pooran and Adrian Barath, who will be looked upon to deliver with the bat.
Mystery spinner Sunil Narine, who will be returning to the National Stadium, only this time as the opposition, will be spear-heading a bowling unit consisting of fast bowlers, Shannon Gabriel and Ravi Rampaul, while Samuel Badree, Rayad Emrit and Sherwin Ganga will provide potent reinforcement.
An exhibition match between the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) Wolverines and Universal DVD Club Berbice Titans will commence at 3:00 pm as they provide an appetizer prior to the main course which begins at 8:00 pm.
Tickets are $1000 for any stand. Gates open at 2:00 pm.
The Guyana team reads: Trevon Griffith, Robin Bacchus, Leon Johnson, Narsingh Deonarine, Christopher Barnwell, Steven Jacobs, Anthony Bramble, Veerasammy Permaul, Devendra Bishoo, Rajiv Ivan, Paul Wintz, Keon Joseph, and Zaheer Mohamed.
Crandon is the coach, while his assistant is Orin Bailey, and team manager, Alvin Johnson.
The Trinidad & Tobago Red Force reads: Lendl Simmons, Evin Lewis, Yannic Ottley, Jason Mohammed, Denesh Ramdin, Nicholas Pooran, Adrian Barath, Samuel Badree, Sherwin Ganga, Ravi Rampaul, Sunil Narine, Shannon Gabriel, Navin Stewart, Rayad Emrit, and Darren Bravo.
The technical team consists of Dudnath Ramkesoon, Omar Khan, David Williams, Kelvin Williams, Oba Gulston, and Denesh Mahabir.
