Guyana Jaguars head coach, Esuan Crandon, has expressed satisfaction with the 15-man squad for their Regional Super50 campaign but is calling on the batsmen to stand up.
The Guyana Jaguars participated in three practice matches and the team, with Leon Johnson as skipper, was announced after the first match.
“I think we have a decent team on paper, “said Crandon.
“A lot of experience. You know some guys coming in for the first time they would have probably played for the West Indies Emerging [Players] team or West Indies B team. Joseph (Keon) would have played his last game probably 10 years ago and [Assad] Fudadin is back also. I think we have a decent team on paper, pretty much balanced in terms of youth and experience,” he added.
The squad sees several changes from the 2019 campaign with the likes of Kevin Sinclair, who won the tournament with West Indies Emerging Players in the previous season, Tevin Imlach, Keon Joseph, Akshaya Persaud, Fudadin, Trevon Griffith and Shimron Hetmyer all included.
The rest of the squad comprises Chandrapaul Hemraj, Romario Shepherd, Christopher Barnwell, Nial Smith, Anthony Bramble, Gudakesh Motie and Ramaal Lewis.
Crandon said that the squad has a good mixture of players who tick all the boxes heading into the tournament.
“I think we have decent balance, three fast bowlers, a medium pacer, two off-spinners, a left-arm spinner and Hemraj, who bowls left arm orthodox as well. We have decent bowling options in the squad. Batting wise, we have guys who can be attacking and accumulate so I am happy with what we have at the moment. So it’s just for me to prepare them well mentally and physically,” he stated.
Due to the absence of Raymon Reifer and Veerasammy Permaul, who are both on West Indies duties, Crandon said that he would have liked to see Keemo Paul and Sherfane Rutherford included.
“I think we would have liked to have the services of Keemo Paul and Sherfane Rutherford and their all-round experience probably that spot would have been ideal for us.
“It is what it is now so it is for us to finalize our preparation with this group here and try and see how best we can start the tournament and obviously win the championship.”
In terms of preparation, Crandon expressed his delight at seeing the bowlers continue to do their work to a high standard but want the batsmen to put out better performances.
“Most of the batsmen could have shown a little bit more fight and put a little more prize on their wicket. I didn’t see many batters went out there and dig in,” he said. In the practice matches, Hemraj was the most outstanding player with a score of 109 in the final game and 41 in the second while Persaud was the only other player with a half century score under his belt.
Romario Shepherd was left stranded on 43 not out while a few players got into the 30s. From a bowling perspective, Smith and Shepherd led the way in the pace department while left-arm spinners, Motie and Hemraj had one five-wicket haul each.
The team is expected to undergo two COVID-19 tests before departing on January 30. The tournament is scheduled to run from February 7 to 27.
