By Delvon McEwan
Vishaul ‘Cheesy’ Singh has been selected to lead the Guyana Jaguars in the absence of Leon Johnson, in the squad facing off against Barbados Pride from tomorrow in third round action of the West Indies Cricket Board’s (WICB) Professional Cricket League (PCL) four-day tournament.
The petite left-hander who did not play in the first two matches, was a surprise pick to lead the team since he has just 412 first class runs, with a top score of 73 in 14 first class appearances.
He replaces Johnson who is set to depart for South Africa with the West Indies team, and was chosen ahead of Narsingh Deonarine, the most experienced player in the current squad, and Veerasammy Permaul who just under a year ago had a successful stint as skipper of the West Indies ‘A’ team and had led Guyana previously.
Speaking to Stabroek Sport yesterday during the Jaguars penultimate net session before tomorrow’s game, Singh said he is elated to lead the Jaguars since he sees himself as an individual who possesses leadership qualities. “I’m happy to be in charge. It (the selection) was a bit surprising but I view myself as a leader and will work to my utmost to get winning results for Guyana,” he said.
The 26-year-old believes his role is to maintain stability as a batsman in the middle order while making the substantial decisions to ensure Guyana remains successful under his leadership. Although his leadership style might be different, he expects that he will get the same support Johnson had because he has played and captained most of the players before.
The Jaguars also drafted in three players to their squad to replace Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Assad Fudadin who will join Johnson on the West Indies trip to South Africa. The replacements are young batsmen Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Shimron Hetmyer and exciting fast bowler Keon Joseph. So far the Jaguars have registered outright wins against the Leeward Franchise and the Windward Volcanoes to be atop of the points table on 34 points.
The full team reads: Vishaul Singh (captain), Narsingh Deonarine (vice-captain), Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Rajendra Chandrika, Shimron Hetmyer, Raymond Reifer, Anthony Bramble (wk), Christopher Barnwell, Veerasammy Permaul, Devendra Bishoo, Ronsford Beaton, Keon Joseph, Trevon Griffith.
The Head Coach is Esuan Crandon and the Assistant Coach is Rayon Griffith.
