The Essequibo Cricket selectors yesterday named Essequibo all-rounder Rayon Fredericks captain of a 14-man team ahead of the 2013 Pepsi Senior Inter-county 50 overs tournament which commences on September 21 at the Georgetown Cricket Club ground, Bourda.
Fredericks, a specialist opening batsman, will have batsman Anthony Adams as his deputy as they lead a team comprising of a few national players such as left-arm spinner, Herry Greene, Kemo Paul and Ricardo Adams, to name a few.
Trials for selection of the final respective squads began in the Cinderella County yesterday and continues tomorrow with Demerara going through their sessions, followed by the final fitness trials on Tuesday at Albion for the Berbice team.
Heavy rains which rampaged through most parts of the country on Friday night into yesterday morning, swamped grounds located across Essequibo.
Despite the swamped outfield and pitch, the hopeful players still eagerly showed up to conduct their fitness sessions under the watchful eyes of the selectors, coaches and managers. Brief paces were done across some dry parts of the ground. Also enabling the selectors to pick their squad was a 40 overs-a-side match between two sides led by the the newly selected captain and vice-captain.
The Adams-led XI defeated his skipper’s team by 30 runs. Batsmen Kevon Boodie (53) and Vishwanauth Lall (53) struck vital half-centuries which led their team to victory, performances that aided them in their selection to the county’s squad.
Greene (4-33) and Fredericks (3-19), were among the wickets while the all-rounder Paul slammed a quick-fire 34 and Hamant Beharry (36). Sheldon Alexander (3-19), Jason Heyliger (2-8) and Gilford Moore (2-9), were some of the other players selected for the final team, who made strong cases for selection.
Chairman of national selectors of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Rayon Griffith, told Stabroek Sport after the fitness sessions concluded that the respective sessions are being done in order to give the selectors an early opportunity to see how fit the players are and if any work was done during the off-season.
Griffith spoke to the players on the value of team work and discipline and encouraged them to feed off each other and strive to look forward to playing cricket at the highest level. He said that they should not be comfortable with just playing for Guyana alone but rather on representing themselves and country at the highest levels.
He also encouraged them to play as a team in the upcoming games against the other counties and told them not to look at the notable names in the squad but rather place their focus on batting, bowling and fielding.
Coach of the Essequibo team, Vibert Johnson said that he was confident of his team doing well.
“The team is an all round squad with a blend of youth and experience that came through the Under-15, 17 and 19,” he said.
Johnson pointed out that the team will “fancy themselves” in this competition and spoke positively about the skipper Fredericks, who he said had a good season last year. He concluded by saying that he is very “optimistic” about winning the tournament.
Essequibo will face Demerara at the Bourda ground in the first match of the tournament on September 21.
The Essequibo squad reads: Rayon Fredricks (Captain), Anthony Adams (vice-captain), Dillon Heyliger, Jason Heyliger, Ricardo Adams, Herry Greene, Sheldon Alexander, Mark Tyrell, Vishwanauth Lall, Kemo Paul, Vijay Surujpaul, Gilford Moore and Ricardo Peters.
The Stand bys: Norman Fredricks, Hamant Beharry, Rajio Balgobin, Keanu Harry, and Jadesh Dindyal.
The team Manager is Otto Christiani and Coach Vibert Bailey.
