Coach of Guyana’s Under-19 team Adrian Amsterdam yesterday said that his players are upbeat about the challenge heading into today’s match against the touring Bangladesh U19 side.
The two teams are set to collide in a 50 overs-a-side game at the Bourda cricket ground.
Upon a visit to the Guyana National Industrial Corporation (GNIC) cricket club ground, Thomas Lands, Stabroek Sports caught up with Amsterdam who was in the process of running a simulation match between the young cricketers as they got in some last minute fine tuning ahead of today’s game.
The local team will be led by national U19 skipper, Shawn Perreira and will include five players from the national Under-19 team on Kamesh Yadram, Vishal Narayan, Steven Sankar, Herry Greene and Romario Shepherd-DeJonge all of whom competed in this year’s West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Regional Under-19 tournament in St. Kitts.
Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) wicket-keeper batsman Kemol Savory who, a few weeks back rubbed shoulders with the senior players during the Inter-county camp, will be looking to make a statement after missing out on the WICB Regional U19 trip earlier in the year.
The big star on show for Guyana will certainly be the U15 all-rounder, Ronaldo Ali Mohamed, who has been creating headlines since his Regional U15 performances in Jamaica where he copped the tournament’s best bowler and MVP award.
Other talents such as Ryan Shun, Martin Pestano-Bell, spinner Shailendra Shameer and Ricardo Peter, are players that can change the outlook of a match by individual performances.
Amsterdam, said that he expects some of his players such as Savory, Bell, and Shun to do well against the tourists, stating that their performances during practice and the nets, was heartnening.
Meanwhile the Bangladesh players got two days of getting used to the local conditions as they engaged in some batting, bowling and fielding exercises at the National Stadium, Providence under the watchful eyes of their coaching staff.
Today’s match is expected to be a mature display of all-round cricket by the 22 players who will seek to display months of training in their recent campaigns.
Upon conclusion of today’s match, the tourists will shift attention to the West Indies U19 team who they battle on Monday at the National Stadium in the first ODI.
Guyana team reads: Shawn Perreira (Capt.), Ricardo Peters, Ryan Shun, Kamesh Yadram, Sharaz Ramcharan, Kemol Savory, Vishal Narayan, Steven Sankar, Henry Greene, Martin Pestano-Bell, Romario Shepherd, Kemo Paul, Shailendra Shameer, Ricardo Mohamed, Shivram Persaud and Bernard Bailey.
Bangladesh team reads: Mehidy Hassan Miraz (Captain), Jasim Uddin (Vice-Captain) Wicket-keeper, Shadman Islam, Najmul Hossain, Munim Shahriar, Yasir Ali Chowdhury, Musaddek Hossain, Saeed Sarkar, Joyraj Sheik, Abu Hider, Rifat Pradhan, Nahid Hasan, Nihad Uz Zaman, Jubair Hossain and Rahatul Ferdous.
Standbys: Sifat Islam, Abu Sayem Chowdhury, Mohammad Sumon, Mehede Hasan, Ashikul Islam and Sujat Hasan.
