Canada national players, Jeremy Gordon and Mark Montfort have thrown their support behind the Guyana Jaguars to win the Cricket West Indies Colonial Medical Insurance Regional Super50.
Both men are former national players of Guyana and spoke to this newspaper ahead of the tournament which is set to bowl off today but will see Guyana playing their first match tomorrow against West Indies Emerging Players.
Montfort was ecstatic about Jaguars’ chances of winning, replying, “Guyana of course but they will have to play good cricket,” when asked who he is supporting for the tournament.
Gordon, who returned to Canada with the national side after their participation in the International Cricket Council’s Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifiers reckoned, “the team is a pretty balanced side,” and welcomed the inclusion of the newbies.
Montfort shared a similar view, stating, “I saw the team and it is a pretty good mixture of experience and youth.”
The Jaguars have brought in Ronsford Beaton and Jonathan Foo who make a return to the side as well as Kemol Savory and Nial Smith who have both earned maiden call-ups.
Montfort added, “Foo and Beaton have been around, they both will be making a comeback and looking to have a great season and will take their games to the next level, Beaton is getting back there and Foo is keen on living up to his potential.”
Gordon said that he has followed the Cricket Guy Inc.’s local franchise extensively and has seen the newcomers’ performances to be commendable.
“It is good to see Beaton and Foo back in the team and really good to see Nial Smith and Kemol Savory who were both very impressive in the Franchise tournament for their respective teams got rewarded with maiden call-ups for the Super50 team,” Gordon said.
Montfort admitted, “I don’t know much of them [Savory and Smith] or have I seen them play but from what I read they are really good and they did well in the franchise cricket to deserve a call up.”
Gordon opined that the tournament is there for the picking especially for the Jaguars who has a lot of depth in both departments and one of the fittest sides in the region.
From the composition of the 14-man squad, in theory there are 11 bowling options with the exception of Tagenarine Chanderpaul and wicket keepers, Anthony Bramble and Kemol Savory.
The spin-department is expertly led by left-arm spinners, Veerasammy Permaul and Gudakesh Motie along with Chandrapaul Hemraj while Foo and Ramaal Lewis will handle the off-spin and captain, Leon Johnson who can bowl leg-spin.
The seamers are formidable as well and will feature Raymon Reifer, Christopher Barnwell, Clinton Pestano, Smith and Beaton. These players are also capable batsmen.
“I think Guyana is definitely a favourite to win the tournament, there is a lot of depth in their batting, I believe Guyana has batting all the way down to nine or 10 and the bowling looks good with Beaton, Permaul, Motie, Smith, Barnwell and Reifer who are both handy with bat and ball,” Gordon noted.
Optimistic about their chances, Gordon posited, “I think Guyana needs to play fearless cricket but smart cricket as well just back their natural abilities because the tournament is theirs’ to lose.”
However, Gordon was wary of the side missing a few key players who are off to represent West Indies against Afghanistan but did not look at it as a loss but an opportunity for other players to step up.
“Those guys [who are with the West Indies] are key players who would be missed for sure, having said that most of the teams will be missing key players as well, I see this as an opportunity for the younger guys and the senior players to step up in their absence and perform for the team,” Gordon stated.
