Chris Barnwell, the Guyana Jaguars all-rounder said despite recently notching up his maiden first-class century he is not looking too far ahead but will continue to perform with both bat and ball in order to again play cricket at the highest level.
“It was a good feeling,” said the 28-year-old Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) player during his interview with Stabroek Sports Thursday.
Barnwell’s all-round performances helped his country to their seventh title after some 17 years.
“Yes I had my goals and one of them was to make a hundred,” said Barnwell, who finished the four-day Professional Cricket League with 471 runs at an average of 39.25 with two half-centuries and a majestic 148 against the Windwards in the last round.
He also snatched a total of 14 wickets.
Over the past year, the right-hander, who has played six T20 internationals for the West Indies, has developed and matured in both respective areas of his cricket, locally and regionally. He credits hard work on and off the field as his driving force to success. “Being an all-rounder takes a lot of hard work. I mainly work on my fitness and I also spend a lot of time batting in the nets,” he said.
Shifting gears to the third edition of the Caribbean Premier league (CPL), the former Royal Challengers Bangalore T20 player admitted that being retained by the local franchise, the Guyana Amazon Warriors was a good feeling.
“It’s always a good feeling to be in the Warriors team”, he said , adding that he is excited about working along with new coach Carl Hooper as well as his new international teammates.
“We have two new players in Brad Hodge and Thisara Perera while Dilshan (Tillakaratne) and Malinga (Lasith) played a couple of games for us before and I’m also looking forward to working with the new coach”.
With the senior season over and the local inter-county tourney around the corner which is followed by the CPL, Barnwell stated that he is not looking too far ahead but will do everything in his power to again represent the West Indies at the highest level.
“Well I have a week off then it’s back to training, I just want to take it one step at a time, I’m not looking ahead too much. When CPL time comes I would love to do my best with both bat and ball to help my team win and once I perform I will give myself a chance to get picked,” he concluded.
