Chairman of the national cricket selectors Rayon Griffith yesterday said that he was very impressed after the first day of the Cricket Guyana Inc. (CGI) organised training session where players excelled and delivered in all departments of the physical assessment.
Stabroek Sports was present at the Bourda Cricket Ground where the Guyana Jaguars contracted players along with players who were identified for the “Pay for Play” option, underwent a series of physical regimen under the watchful eyes of Griffith, Head Coach Esaun Crandon, Albert Smith and Michael Hyles.
The morning opened with a rigorous Beep Test which is conducted in order to assess the endurance and stamina of the players. In comparison to last season where Griffith openly stated his disappointment towards the poor results of the test, the Head Selector stated that: “A better standard was set today because the scores we have gotten were far better than what we got last time, with results from the test showing the majority of the players running 10 and over with a few besting 13.”
The next event was the 40m “Run of three” shuttles where players ran through three checkpoints with coaches accurately recording the time for each checkpoint met. Opener Trevon `Bugsy’ Griffith set the mark which proved difficult to surpass by his teammates as he topped the sprint session with a time of 4.91 seconds.
Six-footer pacer Raun Johnson put his long legs to work and recorded the second best time with 4.95 seconds while all-rounder Chris Barnwell placed third with 5.00 seconds flat. Others such as Ronsford Beaton (5.06) Gudakesh Moti (5.10), Paul Wintz (5.23), Raj Nanan (5.34), Rajendra Chandrika (5.43) and veteran Guyana and West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul (5.44) were among the top performers.
On the subject of Chanderpaul, the 40-year-old certainly did not allow his younger teammates to get the better of him fully as he was right up there in terms of being in the top five performers in most if not all of the physical sessions and was also seen speaking with and mentoring the youngsters around him.
Crandon and Smith then conducted a brief session of sprints where the players were positioned belly-down flat on the grass and had to spring to their feet and take off to the checkpoint which was designated by two cones, all in one motion.
That session could have been regarded as the fiercest in terms of rivalry after players could be heard as they were all morning, taunting and teasing each other in competitive efforts to induce top results among themselves.
Other exercises such as running between the wickets where players were made to simulate the running of three runs from striker to non-striker end along with a series of cardiovascular exercises such as push-ups and abdominal workouts were done during the three-hour morning session.
Concluding his brief interview with this newspaper, Griffith said that he was indeed pleased with the results and the fitness of the players which he credited them for due to him seeing more outside work being carried out across the clubs and ground over the past few weeks heading into today’s commencement of the camp.
He also pointed out that the first day’s result was far better than what was recorded last year and is optimistic about the level of fitness and form increasing. Day two of the camp continues today at 8:00hrs while the players will rest for two days and resume their training on Friday with a 4-day practice match.
All-rounder Chris Barnwell takes off during the running between wickets simulation yesterday.
