Anand Sanasie, Secretary of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) yesterday said that he was satisfied with the national team’s preparatory camp ahead of the 2014 NAGICO Super50 tournament and expects the team to return home with their 10th Regional 50-over title when the tournament bowls off on Thursday in Trinidad and Tobago.
Stabroek Sports caught up with Sanasie yesterday at the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) pavilion where the secretary stated that the team’s growth from strength-to-strength was impressive and exactly what he expected from the squad which looks the most compact and dangerous on paper.
“On paper we are a strong team with plenty talent in abundance. Our main aim is to win the tournament and we are not prepared to settle for less,” he declared.
The secretary also said that the onus was upon the team to go out there and perform after measures were put in place to ensure the training sessions widely targeted all aspects of the game.
He pointed out that the progression from a very mediocre state of fitness to a peak level was credit to the hard work put in by the players and the coaching staff who were hugely assisted by the pair of Guyana Defence Force (GDF) trainers who helped to further evolve the physical state and structure of the players making the team one of the better prepared teams in the tournament.
“Thanks to the GDF trainers we saw remarkable improvements in the team which made an impact in their preparation.
“We hope that the players maintain their fitness during their off-season periods and continue to train which will ensure their level of fitness is up to standard,” Sanasie said pointing out that the onus was on the players to maintain a good level of form and fitness when they are away from actual camps or games.
The trio of former national players Rayon Griffith and Esaun Crandon, the current Chairman of selectors and Senior national coach along with Berbice head coach Julian Moore was a great mixture of experience and expertise for the development of the players according to the secretary who explained that the three worked professionally and diligently to bring the team to peak conditioning.
The team, which boasts a wealth of talent and experience, features a top class unit inclusive of Leon Johnson, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Captain Christopher Barnwell, Assad Fudadin, Narsingh Deonarine Veerasammy Permaul, Devendra Bishoo, Ronsford Beaton and others, is capable of conquering all obstacles according to the secretary who admitted that he expected the big guns to fire when called upon.
However despite the big names featured in the squad Sanasie openly admitted that if the team does not fire on all cylinders and produce an unsuccessful outing then the board will sit with team management to address the areas of concern and the flaws ahead of the second leg of the tournament which is the four-day format.
He also lauded the initiative of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) saying that they “have done a better job,” in staging the 50-over and four-day formats in different periods after last year’s regional fixtures were played simultaneously.
Sanasie also thanked the team’s attire sponsor Malta Supreme who threw their weight behind the cricketers enabling them to have a professional look in their title hunt. The team will participate in a dinner this evening at the Wind Jammer Hotel prior to its departure for Trinidad and Tobago tomorrow morning at 7:00am. Guyana will face Ireland in their first match of the tournament.
