Guyana Jaguars Head Coach Esaun Crandon believes that the ongoing training sessions will serve as ideal preparation for the reigning champions ahead of their title defence in next season’s Professional Cricket League (PCL) four-day competition.
Speaking with the former Guyana all-rounder who was conducting one of the team’s training sessions at the Indoor Cricket Facility at La Bonne Intention (LBI) on the East Coast, Crandon pointed out that the ongoing sessions will be useful for the players in the long run while adding that the stoppage of the senior Inter-County four-day tournament due to rain was indeed a bit of a setback.
“Obviously we have no control of the weather because it’s the May/June period but as you can see it’s an opportunity for the players to continue their training indoors and to give the players more time to condition themselves and prepare better for Inter-County when it starts.
“We will continue our job as coaches because the players have been contracted to work four days a week and we will continue to work indoors because it’s very important for Guyana cricket and for us to train and focus a lot on our physical training and of course the technical aspect,” he pointed out.
The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) had originally scheduled the Inter-County four-day tourney to begin last week Friday but consistent showers rendered nearly all the outdoor grounds across the city unplayable, thus forcing the board to postpone the competition until further notice.
When asked whether this cancellation was a setback, Crandon was keen on explaining that with the Professional Cricket league (PCL) 2015/16 player draft approaching, they needed to have the best four-day players available for selection and the tourney would have been used a s a measuring stick for that.
“It’s a good question because what we are looking at is the players draft and we are looking to select players for the longer version. So if we could get the four day in it will be good for us as coaches and selectors to pick the final 15 and 10 players so we will be grateful if we can get good weather and get over with the 4-fay competition but I also expect more competitive competitions.
“We have quality players and the amount of training we have been putting in we want to see these guys playing competitive, every players going out there and stake claims for selections I know the guys are very eager to go out there and showcase their talent”.
When Stabroek Sports arrived at the facility, Assistant Coach and Guyana Jaguars Manager Rayon Griffith rolled back the years as he has been doing for the past few seasons as he conducted various batting sessions with the likes of Steven Jacobs, Paul Wintz, Ricardo Adams, Rajindra Chandrika, Raj Nannan and others.
The cricketers engaged in a tedious session of batting practice inside the facility’s net area while a few bowlers also got the opportunity to fine-tune and/or improve their bowling techniques. Griffith, in an invited comment, said he was that the players continued to show attentiveness while he is impressed by their maturity and commitment.
Concluding his interview with this newspaper, Crandon lauded the cricketers for their commitment shown over the past few months and said that despite winning the 2014/15 PCL four-day title, they continue to train and practice day in day out which he said will aid them dearly in this season’s Regional cricket tournament.
“We been working for a while now obviously there is evidence and we’ve seen a lot of improvements in the different departments, the physical fitness has greatly improved, the technical in the bowlers and batters”.
“What we are doing is looking to groom well rounded players and we have seen the improvements we want to continue in that vein, it’s a lot of hard work because everyone will look at the Jaguars in the next competition so we will have to step our games up”.
