Following his sterling performance against the Windwards Volcanoes in the first ever Pink Ball Day/Night match of the 2016/17 Digicel Pro-fessional Cricket League (PCL) 4-Day tournament, Guyana Jaguars left-arm seamer Raymon Reifer endorsed sticking to the basics of bowling as his key to success.
Reifer, who was named Man-of-the-Match in the rain-affected third round, played at the Darren Sammy National Stadium, St Lucia, scored 52 in the first innings before snaring a career-best haul of 6-82 during his debut outing with the pink ball.
The sudden rise of the pink ball in Day/Night 4-Day games around the world has been spurred due to the better night visibility it offers over the red ball which is used in First Class and Test cricket.
The Pink Ball also deteriorates much slower than the white ball thus offering a bit more swing which makes it a perfect weapon for a swing bowler.
However the 25-year-old told Stabroek Sport on Wednesday evening, that his career-best bowling performance in 4-day cricket was not entirely based on the nature of the ball but rather a result of him sticking with the fundamentals of bowling i.e. putting the ball in the right areas.
“I just went out there and enjoyed my cricket as I normally do. I put the ball in good areas and I got the results because the pink ball is quite similar to the white ball but it swings a bit later”, said the lone left-arm pacer in the team.
Regarding his all-round performance, Reifer’s skills have been a breath of fresh air for Guyana cricket who for a long time were without a genuine left-arm seamer capable of reversing the ball at decent pace. When asked about the experience he gained from the last Day/Night game, Reifer admitted that he learns from every match but does not intend on changing his tactics ahead of the next round.
“I think if I’m playing cricket in the day or night I wouldn’t try to change too many things because I will just try to focus on keeping things simple and sticking to the basics as I have done before”, he explained.
The next assignment for the two-time defending champs and table leaders (33.6 points) Guyana, will be second placed opponents the Barbados Pride (33.4 points) in the second Day/Night encounter which will be played in the Jaguars’ backyard, the Providence National Stadium, Guyana this coming Friday.
With two matches remaining in the first half of the competition, Friday’s fourth round against Barbados and next week’s fifth round battle against the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force, Reifer said that it was important for Guyana to maintain their composure and make full use of their home field advantage.
“As a team we just need to stick to the basics and put up a good 1st innings total to set up the game properly. We will be taking one game at a time and we will be trying to tick all of our boxes so we can get the results we’re looking for”, he added.
