By Royston Alkins
The national senior cricket team known as the Guyana Jaguars will look to end a 12-year title drought when the West Indies Cricket Board’s regional Super50 one-day tournament commences January 24 in Barbados and Antigua simultaneously.
And at least one Guyana Cricket Board official is enthused over the prospect.
Assistant coach Rayon Griffith told Stabroek Sports yesterday that he and the team were looking forward to the this year’s tournament.
“The team is excited about their chances of ending the 12 year without a title in the shorter format drought,” Griffith who is also the chairman of the national cricket selectors told Stabroek Sports in an exclusive interview.
“The team is showing good intensity in all the departments and there is no worry even though the Jaguars lost to the Vishal Singh 11 in the first practice match,” he added.
In the past batting has been one of the team’s Achilles heel but Griffith feels this is no longer so.
“The batting is solid from one to eight and I liked what I saw from wicket-keeper/.batsman Bramble (Anthony), Chanderpaul (Shivnarine), Barnwell (Christopher) and the skipper (Leon Johnson),” he declared.
The teams have been placed into two zones with the Jaguars in Zone B along with hosts Barbados who they will play their opening game against and no doubt the team will be eager for a winning start to the competition.
The other teams in the group are Jamaica Scorpions, Combined Campuses and Colleges Marooners and a composite team known as the ICC Americas.
Serious contenders for glory
The Guyana Jaguars are the defending West Indies regional Four-Day champs
but one-day glory continues to elude them ever since they won their last regional one-day championships in the 2005 tournament in fading light at the Bourda cricket ground, the former Mecca of Guyana’s cricket.
The team has an ideal balance of youth and experience which makes them serious contenders to lift this year’s cup.
Chanderpaul, the only surviving member of the 2005 championships team will once again be relied upon to be the bedrock of the team’s batting a position he is ideally suited for.
Ever hungry, the “Tiger’ will certainly be looking to play a big role in helping to push his team over the line in what could very well be his last one day tournament for Guyana.
The veteran left-hander, a former West Indies test captain, will be able to give tactical support to skipper Johnson, who himself is expected to make his presence felt with the bat.
Johnson, who endured mixed fortunes with the West Indies team albeit at the Test level, should use this opportunity to regain the selector’s confidence with a few big scores and showcase his leadership credentials since it is known that quality captains are scarce in regional cricket.
Johnson, should be well aware that he is the kind of leader that the Courtney Brown-led selection panel is looking for and should also be conscious that his bat needs to do his talking for him at this point in his career.
The success of the squad will, to a lesser degree, also rest on the shoulders of young former West Indies U19 skipper and opening batsman Shimron Hetmyer, arguably the most exciting young batsman in the region.
Griffith, commenting on Hetmyer, who last year led the West Indies U19 team to the One Day World Cup triumph, said: “The youngster has to be smart since he is in form and has been hitting the ball nicely during the practice games and the net sessions.
“From what we have seen of Hetmyer, he can easily take the game away from the opposition with his aggressive stroke play, if he gets going. The hard bouncy pitches in Barbados should suit his aggressive nature at the top of the innings,” added the former national player Griffith.
The 20-year-old Hetmeyer will boost his chances of a West Indies call up in the near future if he puts his head down and finds the right balance between aggression and defence.
It would be interesting to see how he goes.
Assad Fudadin, who was left out of the four-day team, will be hoping for a good showing. The left-hander, who sports a Hashim Amla-like beard, was one of two batsmen to hit centuries in last year’s tournament and he will be looking to continue from where he left off. His presence should be the ideal foil for Hetmyer at the top of the order and his role will no doubt be to turn the strike over to the youngster and bat as deep as he possibly can.
Then there are the all-rounders. Jonathan Foo, Barnwell and Raymond Reifer are all accomplished all-rounders who are capable big hitters. They are well equipped to occupy the crease and they also have the ability to move the game along and up the ante as the innings progresses.
So too is Bramble, who was promoted to open the batting last year in a few innings. Johnson and the coaching staff will hope for a number of solid contributions from the above players who should be aiming to enhance their reputations at the regional level.
Barnwell especially should have a point to prove since there has been a number recent cries to select young exciting all-rounders Sherfane Rutherford and Kemo Paul instead.
The bowling combinations are fairly settled with Test leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo expected to lead the attack. Bishoo, who ended the West Indies tour of the United Arab Emirates on a positive note, will get handy support from left arm orthodox spinner Veerasammy Permaul, who can be difficult to get away when consistent. The other spinner in the team is Steven Jacobs. The tall, off-spinning all-rounder, who recently recovered form a serous back injury, should do well bowling his drifters. He’s also a useful option to bowl the new ball. It remain to be seen if he’ll find a place in the starting 11 since Foo and Johnson are part-time off spinners.
Speed will come from the Essequibian Ronsford Beaton and the versatile Paul Wintz. They are expected to share the new ball and make early inroads which should help the tweakers to be more effective in the middle overs. Barnwell and Reifer will share the workload with their medium fast bowling. The squad is full of options but accessing the conditions, picking the right combinations and playing smart cricket will be the keys to Johnson’s men coming out as tournament victors.
According to Griffith, there are no major injuries to any player at the moment. He disclosed that the team will utilize the facilities at the National Stadium where they will be involved in simulation practice sessions daily up until the team departs these shores on Saturday for their opening game three days later.
The full squad reads: Leon Johnson (Captain), Veerasammy Permaul (Vice-Captain), Anthony Bramble, Shimron Hetmyer, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Christopher Barnwell, Raymon Reifer, Rajendra Chandrika, Steven Jacobs, Assad Fudadin, Devendra Bishoo, Ronsford Beaton, Paul Wintz, Jonathan Foo, Esuan Crandon (Head-coach), Rayon Griffith (Assistant- Coach), Ernesto Gonzalez (Physiotherapist).
