Chairman of the national selectors Rayon Griffith yesterday said that despite the vast improvement shown by members of the national team during the camp, the latter week of training will be the most crucial ahead of next week’s 2014 Nagico Super50 tournament which bowls off on January 30 in Trinidad.
Speaking with Stabroek Sports during the team’s session at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence and on the eve of the team’s first day/night match at the same venue, Griffith said that the most important period of the camp was definitely the last week of activities which will be used to fine-tune the players.
He said that the importance of the two day/night games was to ensure that the players are well adjusted to the light and atmosphere which they will encounter during the tournament with Guyana playing their matches under lights.
“We want to get the players accustomed to the light and to have a good feel of it while getting their bodies properly tuned ahead of their games,” he said.
He also pointed out that while the players’ fitness levels are very impressive at this point, he still sees a bit more room for them to get better and reach their peak.
Apart from being physically fit, the chairman admitted that another objective was to perceive if the players are match fit while assessing which areas need to be strengthened.
During the first few days of the encampment national coach Esaun Crandon and Griffith both said that they were disappointed with the results of the beep test. However, Griffith applauded the results from the one recently carried out this weekend.
“The beep test was a success and I was pleased to see that everyone did well,” he declared.
Since encampment, the players have been working hard on their cricket and Griffith said that he was pleased to see that outside of the field and nets the players had been spending quality time together.
During the team’s hike to the Timehri Camp Stephenson’s army base, the players had lunch prepared for them compliments of the army faculty which saw them congregating and eating together.
“The unity is fairly good at the moment but it can get better,” said Griffith who spoke on the topic of the team bonding off the field and of the importance of getting each player on the same page by virtue of working and gelling as a family.
The team has so far played a few practice games at the Everest and Bourda grounds respectively but the coach said that the strength of the team lay in both the batting and bowling departments.
“On paper we look good but it is left up to how we play. Our batting has the edge over our bowling at the moment but we’re still pretty balanced,” he declared.
In closing the chairman duly stated that the technical areas in the batting and bowling departments will come under heavy observation during the last week of training.
Team Guyana will continue its training at the LBI indoor facility while outdoor net sessions will continue at the Everest ground where the players will continue working on sharpening their fielding while catching and other fielding drills will be carried out before the camp culminates.
The first day/night practice game is set to commence at 13:30hrs today at the National Stadium while the second match is set for Friday at the same venue and time.
