Defending Digicel Profes-sional Cricket League (PCL) Regional Four-Day champs Guyana Jaguars yesterday commenced training in preparation for Friday’s top-of-the-table Day/Night clash against the Barbados Pride at Providence.
The first of three days of training started yesterday afternoon at Providence and Chairman of the national selection panel Rayon Griffith briefly told Stabroek Sport that the focus over the next few days will be heavily on the team’s fielding with the pink ball which will be used for the first time in a Day/Night game at Providence.
When Stabroek Sport visited Providence yesterday afternoon, numerous ground fielding and aerial catching simulation exercises were being carried out by Griffith, Head coach Esaun Crandon and Academy coach Clive Grimmond who put the players into teams and worked with them on various aspects of the game.
The players seemed to be handling the pink ball well during yesterday’s first day following a brief break after round three.
Apart from catching and ground fielding, which have been of concern to the Jaguars in the past, a series of batting drills were also carried out as the players sought to ready themselves for the new challenges which loom in round four.
Despite the Jaguars ticking most of their boxes thus far in the competition to cement a first place spot after three rounds, Griffith said that he believed that the fielding especially was in need of further fine-tuning as it could play a major role over the next few days of action.
The Jaguars lead the points standings with 33.6 points while the Pride are on 33.4 Crandon said he believed that within the next few days it will be important for the players to get further accustomed to the nature of the pink ball especially as the match against the Pride will possibly decide the top team at the end of the round.
Griffith, after a few lengthy hours of working with the players, said that he was happy with the first day of training and was looking forward to more progress especially in the fielding department but was nevertheless upbeat about completing the three-day session with much success.
The team will continue training today.
