Akshaya Persaud has called his experience with the Combined Colleges and Campuses (CCC) during the Cricket West Indies’ Colonial Medical Insurance Super50 valuable.
Persaud was the lone Guyanese in the side and despite the team not qualifying for the semi-finals, he ended the tournament with the second highest average in the side with 34.25 and an aggregate of 137 runs from five innings.
He ended with two half centuries and a top score of 55.
The 22-year-old also picked up four wickets bowling left-arm orthodox spin.
He was also one of the more economical bowlers in the side with an economy rate of 5.69.
Speaking exclusively with Stabroek Sport after returning home Persaud reflecting on the experience, said: “Firstly I want to thank God for the opportunity that was presented to me, “he declared.
“I gained a lot of valuable experience and personally it was a good tournament… It was a totally different environment from what I’m accustomed to,” he added.
“The team culture and everything was different…They had different approaches to situations in the game.
“We just tried to put aside all the differences and work towards the team goal which was winning.
“All in all it was a good experience working with different players from the Caribbean.”
Persaud said that the highlight of the competition for him was scoring an unbeaten half century against Barbados with his team in a difficult position.
“When I went in to bat we were in a very difficult position of winning the game, I kept believing in myself and I went onto win the game for my team, I remember before going out I told the coach and video analyst that I will win the game for them and I went out there believing in myself and I got my team over the line.
A lot was said to me whilst batting but that actually motivated me more to bat and win the game for my team,” Persaud reflected.
While being impressive in most of his matches, Persaud was unable to play the remaining games of the group stages after being ruled out with a lower back strain which consequently caused him to miss out on achieving some of the goals he had set for himself.
“I’ve learnt lot from playing in this tournament and I could only improve going forward.
Playing this year has helped me in developing my all-round game and also how to approach different situations in limited overs cricket,” Persaud stated.
The West Demerara franchise skipper explained that even though there were a lot of inspiring figures in the set up, he credits former West Indies captain, Carlos Brathwaite as being integral to his development and viewed him as a “mentor.”
In addition to his game development, Persaud pointed out that mental health is a crucial part of the sport and as being part of the Marooners set up, his self-confidence and approach to the game have both been enhanced.
Moving forward, he predicted that he just wants to keep improving his game as he searches for a spot in the Jaguars set up for the upcoming Regional Four-Day tournament.
“My immediate goals for the next couple of months would be making the Jaguars four-day team and once given the opportunity, I would grab it with both hands and get some big scores and help Guyana Jaguars defend the four-day title,” he said.
Persaud played two first-class matches for the Jaguars in 2018.
