Fast bowler Ronsford Beaton is the lone Guyanese in the West Indies T20 squad to face Afghanistan in the side’s upcoming tour of the Caribbean.
The 24-year-old Essequibian said that his selection came as no surprise to him since he has been performing creditably in the shorter format of the game.
“I just want to give God all the praise and the thanks for seeing me through thus far. It’s been a long wait for me to break into the West Indies senior team having played for the under- 19 [West Indies] team. I have been patient and it has paid off for me,” he said.
Beaton credited his consistent T20 performance over the years for his call up where he represented both the Guyana Amazon Warriors and Trinbago Knight Riders, in the Caribbean Premier league, West Indies A, and the Dhaka Dynamites where he plied his trade in the Bangladesh Premier League.
The player was candid about his aspirations noting that he would be looking to justify his selection while also aiming to stake a claim for further selection, possibly in the one-day matches to follow against the same opponents.
“I will be using the opportunity to put my name up there for a further selection. I know the ODI’s are just after the T20’s so I’m hoping to go out there and put my best foot forward and lead with some aggression and hopefully that will get me in the ODI team,” Beaton said.
The fast bowler who has been unjustifiable left out of the Guyana team without any plausible reason given, has so far snared 31 wickets from 36 twenty – twenty matches at an economy rate of just over eight. He has a best of 4 for 9.
His potential was spotted by Indian star batsman Yuvraj Singh when he toured India with the West Indies A team in 2013. Since then, he has played alongside the likes of Hashim Amla, Dwayne Bravo, and Brendon McCullum who he credits for much of his success.
He was quoted as saying, “Getting advice from those great batsmen, despite they are not bowlers, has helped me. You can talk to them and find out different areas where they would have seen different bowlers erred and that can help me improve my game. They have also encouraged me to work hard on my game and to use the gym to get stronger, so that’s what I’ve been doing from since then,” in an earlier interview with this very publication.
He will make his debut for the Caribbean side on June 2 in the 1st T20 International at Warner Park, should he get the nod. The second match of the series will be played a day later on Saturday and the final on June 5th at the same venue.
