Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) chairman of national selectors Rayon Griffith yesterday lauded the vast improvement shown by the players during the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) organised three-day fitness camp which ended yesterday.
The camp, which commenced on Friday, was used to improve and enhance the physical and technical aspects of the 37-man team selected
with a view to to gaining selection to represent Guyana in the upcoming West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Regional Four-day and Super50 tournaments in Trinidad and Tobago.
Head Coach Esaun Crandon, Griffith and Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) head coach and former youth player Julian Moore took the players through their paces over the past three days in a bid to fine-tune them for the upcoming tournaments.
Griffith commended the cricketers for the rapid improvement displayed during course of the past three days and said that he expected upon resumption of the camp on January 3 that the same intensity and hunger would be brought to the table.
The third and final day of the camp saw the players engaging in some much needed physical training which included shuttles and core exercises done at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall followed by an afternoon session of batting and bowling at the Gandhi Youth Organisation (GYO) ground, Woolford Avenue.
Griffith said that the second phase is expected to be much better after the players displayed tremendous efforts during the first phase.
He said that he was elated that the batters got a lot of time to apply themselves at the net sessions butsaid that he was disappointed over the fact that the weather prohibited the fast-bowlers from using their full run-ups, due to the slightly wet grounds.
The camp was held minus Narsingh Deonarine, seasoned middle-order batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul and left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul who are currently involved in West Indies duties in New Zealand and Guyana is set to lose the talented all-rounder Steven Jacobs who was recently picked to lead the Combined Campuses and Colleges team (CCC).
Crandon said the first phase of the training camp was a success and noted much emphasis was placed on the physical development of the players.
“I am pleased with the first phase of preparations and I can say that the fitness level of everyone improved from when we began. The guys worked really hard and we hope that when they return they will continue to be fully focused,” he said.
Griffith hinted that upon resumption of the camp the players will be involved in matches and games among themselves.
The select 37-man team reads; Leon Johnson, Devendra Bishoo, Veerasammy Permaul, Anthony Bramble, Robin Bacchus, Assad Fudadin, Zaheer Mohamed, Royston Crandon, Christopher Barnwell, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Vishal Singh, Ronsford Beaton, Rajiv Ivan, Amir Khan, Trevon Griffith, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Chanderpaul Hemraj, Shaquille Williams, Jonathan Foo, Narsingh Deonarine, Steven Jacobs, Keon Joseph, Raun Johnson, Jason Sinclair, Paul Wintz, Anthony Adams, Rajendra Chandrika, Gudakesh Motie-Kanhai, Shimron Hetmyer, Andre Stoll, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Ryan Ramdass, Chris Pattadin, Royan Fredricks, Totaram Bishun and Collis Butts
