Head Coach of Guyana Jaguars, Esaun Crandon believes the inclusion of West Indies trio Shimron Hetmyer, Keemo Paul and Romario Shepherd will be critical to the outcome of the West Indies Championships match against leaders Barbados Pride starting today.
“It is very, very important and very crucial to have Hetmyer, Shepherd and Keemo Paul with us,” said Crandon adding..”obviously they will bring a lot to the table. From a bowling perspective we know what Shepherd and Paul have to offer and we are expecting more consistency and, from Hetmyer’s perspective, we know what he is capable of and hope that he continues doing the good work he has done for us and West Indies,” Crandon told Stabroek Sport on the eve of the match yesterday.
The trio replaces fast bowlers Keon Joseph and Nial Smith as well as opener Tevin Imlach.
“Those guys are always welcome when they are off of West Indies duties and we always welcome them back and look forward to them giving back something to the Jaguars and fully we can have the best of them and impact the performance of the team and hopefully we can come out with the win in this game,” he stated.
In terms of bowling, the defending champions have been heavily dependent on left-arm spinner, Veerasammy Permaul, who has taken 49 wickets while their pacers have accounted for 45. Last season, Paul and Shepherd tallied 58 wickets with Shepherd playing 10 matches and Paul only three.
With the bat, Hetmyer is expected to boost the department in light of Leon Johnson (460) and Christopher Barnwell (424) being their most prolific run getters this season. Crandon posited that this match
provides an opportunity for Jaguars to build on the areas they would have done well in previous games as well as look to improve on a few aspects of their game.
“It’s another game of cricket. Obviously we would have had the opportunity to look back at our performances in the previous rounds and discuss our plans and areas we need to improve and obviously the areas we did well. So it’s a matter of us going out there and executing our plans, to be clear as to those plans and make adjustments on the day,” he stated.
The Level Three coach suggested that the match is important since it has the potential of deciding the tournament winners.
“It is a very important match as is all the other games, this is a top-of-the-table clash and this is more crucial than the others in terms of Barbados, they had the upper hand against us in Barbados and we are looking to turn the tables around this time in Guyana,” Crandon noted.
Crandon admitted that Pride, “has a very good team on paper and we had a very good meeting to discuss our plan and we are just looking to execute. This is our conditions and we need to own the conditions.”
Looking at the conditions, Crandon opined that Jaguars have a good record when it comes to pink ball matches and with recent success in the format, they stand a good chance of having the upper hand.
“Our first game in the tournament was day and night so guys understand how the pink ball operates in the day and during the night so it is nothing strange for us, we just got to understand the conditions and play to our best.”
The match bowls off from 14.00 hours daily. Guyana Jaguars: Leon Johnson (captain), Vishual Singh, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Christopher Barnwell, Raymon Reifer, Veerasammy Permaul, Anthony Bramble, Romario Shepherd, Keemo Paul, Shimron Hetmyer, Gudakesh Motie, Kevin Sinclair, Akshaya Persaud
