Garvin Nedd, coach of the Guyana Under-17 cricket team said yesterday that he believes the current batch of youngsters have bright futures ahead and expects more progression from them, especially after seeing their performances in the just concluded West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Regional U17 tournament.
Guyana finished second behind tournament winners Trinidad & Tobago, narrowly missing out on the title after ending on 20.03 points in comparison to the 20.06 accumulated by the champs. During an interview
with Stabroek Sport yesterday, Nedd said that despite coming up a bit short in the end, he was proud of the teamwork as well as the individual performances of his players.
“I’m very much impressed by how the team played especially with young Sachin Singh who is 14-years-old and doing well in the team. Overall we played to our strengths, it’s unfortunate that two games were rained out which I think added to our result,” said Nedd.
In a competition curtailed at times by the weather, the former
national off-spinner said the turning point for Guyana was the fourth round encounter against T&T which was called off due to rain. He noted that the match could have been played but umpires decided to abandon the game a bit earlier than expected despite signs of conducive weather.
“We could have played against Trinidad but the umpire called off the game at 12:30, we had good sunshine and I think we could have gotten a 14:00hrs start but we didn’t get a chance to play because that round would have made the difference.
“Also I think three more fast bowling points and we would have won with the higher run rate, but all in all the weather prevented us from winning,” said the coach who also credited his players for making the best of the opportunities and playing mature cricket away from home.
While most of the players such as wicket-keeper Joshua Persaud, Skipper Bhaskar Yadram, Kevin Sinclair and Nedd’s son Ashmead had a good tournament, the veteran coach said it was important to acknowledge that the players who got little play time before the Regional tourney began, carried their form the inter-county as well as the school cricket tournament.
“I was very impressed with leadership of Yadram. He led the team well And, apart from that, all that we discussed during training and meetings were executed. I think he (Yadram) could be a good captain for the future here in Guyana. Joshua (Persaud) got the best wicketkeeper award, while others like Sinclair, Nedd and Kevin Umroa and others really did their best,” he said.
Nedd continued, “All the departments did well and it’s evident in our victories but we just didn’t get enough fast bowling wickets, the chances were created but we didn’t snap them up to come out successful”.
The Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) Head Coach also believed that the preparation leading up to the tournament was also helpful to the players, adding that apart from the on-field attitude, the youngsters were equal to the task off the field.
“Preparations were good. The few days we were together with coach Michael Hyles and that lead up to the games, helped them gain a bit more inspiration. As coach I was impressed this year, I think it’s a better bunch of U17 guys playing together and they really responded well on and off the field.
“Management also played a key role too, I would like to thank Colin Stuart for making sure the team was well prepared ahead of the Tournament. All in all I wouldn’t beat myself or the boys too hard because they did well,” admitted the coach.
Nedd also confirmed that the West Indies selectors who were present during the tournament had the opportunity to get a firsthand look at some of the players and they have already identified a few who they were impressed with and could possibly make the West Indies youth team for the next World Cup.
