Guyana Jaguars yesterday named their squad for the Cricket West Indies Professional Cricket League (PCL) opening round with all-rounder Kevin Sinclair and pacer, Nial Smith earning maiden call ups.
Also included in the Leon Johnson-led side are West Indies leg-spinner, Devendra Bishoo, West Indies A pacer, Keon Joseph and former West Indies wicket-keeper/batsman, Tevin Imlach.
Assistant Coach of the Jaguars, Shivnarine Chanderpaul spoke to Stabroek Sport after the team was announced and tagged it as an opportunity for the youngsters to grab.
“I see it as an opportunity for the young fellas who are there, those guys have their duties and the opportunity is there for the young players, they just have to go out there and grab it,” Chanderpaul said.
Chanderpaul went on to add, “it is good for the young fellas, it’s good if they have been included, they have been around for a while. Sinclair is doing well, he has done well in the One Day tournament the other day and he actually played a major part in his team winning the tournament… Imlach has been around a while also and young Smith has been doing well at this level you know playing practice matches and competing against each other so the new guys around and the return of Joseph and Bishoo I guess the guys will be looking to make an impression this tournament.”
Sinclair, 20, has continued to make impressive strides after turning out for Super50 champions, West Indies Emerging Players earlier this year. In that tournament, Sinclair who bowls off-spin finished as the most economical bowler and 13 wickets. He also scored 132 runs with a best of 44.
The New Amsterdam native has also been successful in the Jaguars warm up matches, where he scored a half century and taken four wickets.
Like Sinclair, 24-year-old seamer, Smith made his List A debut in the Super50 where he represented Jaguars. Smith has also impressed in the Jaguars warm up match with his pace and variations which earned him a four-wicket haul in the first match.
Bishoo, 34 has taken 382 first-class wickets in 100 matches and will bring experience to the side after playing 36 Tests and 46 One Day Internationals. Joseph, 28, also brings a lot of experience from his 40 First-Class matches and is two wickets short of 100.
Contrastingly, 23-year-old Imlach has only played one First-Class match for Jaguars back in 2018 where he made eight against Windward Islands.
The Guyana Cricket Board indicated that Shimron Hetmyer, Keemo Paul and Romario Shepherd are currently on West Indies duty with Shepherd joining the team for the second round.
Jaguars are the five-time consecutive defending champions and will open their campaign against Leeward Islands Volcanoes in Antigua from January 9.
Guyana Jaguars squad: Leon Johnson (captain), Vishaul Singh, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Christopher Barnwell, Anthony Bramble, Raymon Reifer, Keon Joseph, Nial Smith, Veerasammy Permaul, Kevin Sinclair, Devendra Bishoo, Tevin Imlach, Esaun Crandon (Head Coach), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (Assistant Coach), Neil Barry Jr. (Physiotherapist)
