If West Indies’ scouts are looking for a few young and raw seam bowling all-rounders to invest in, they should look no further than Guyana; land of many all-rounders, it seems.
At first glance, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd, Keemo Paul, Clinton Pestano and the adopted Raymon Reifer are the more prominent names who have captured headlines in recent times and in the process, have created many headaches for the national selectors.
And it’s not about to get any easier. Why? Simply because of the model of consistency shown by West Indies Under – 19 all-rounder Ronaldo Ali-Mohamed, who, remarkably, recorded five centuries in little under a month-and-a-half, a rarity these days, albeit three were recorded at the second-division level.
The other two, however, came in the just-concluded Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) one – day Franchise League where he blistered 101 and 105 against West Demerara and Lower Corentyne, respectively.
He has also been doing well with the ball.
It is for those reasons that Stabroek Sports reached out to the young man for him to share his thoughts and formula on the recent rich vein of form.
“Yeah! I’m thankful and pleased with my form and for scoring five centuries recently. I must say thanks to the Almighty,” Ali-Mohamed said adding that his current run, is the best in his career to date.
His form though, is no coincidence but mere fruits of his hard work and the investment of others to improve his game.
“I’ve been working hard on my game with the franchise coaches, and my club coach Reon King and some of the senior players like Leon Johnson and Robin Bacchus have been guiding me,” the youngster explained.
While his recent exploits were not enough to earn him a place in the Guyana team that is set to compete in next month’s Cricket West Indies Regional Super – 50, the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) lad could well get his opportunity as a replacement player after being named among the reserves.
“It will be a great feeling if I can get into the team as a replacement, but at the moment I’m just content and waiting on my opportunity to come and to make full use of it whenever that time is.” Ali-Mohammed’s pedigree is well documented which earned him a West Indies Under – 19 call-up earlier this year for the International Cricket Council Under – 19 World Cup in New Zealand. Prior to that, he captained Guyana to the Regional Under – 19 Double in 2017.
All things remaining constant, his achievements will continue to be documented, if he’s managed as he should be.
