Guyana Jaguars will be boosted by the inclusion of Raymon Reifer and Veerasammy Permaul for today’s semi-final clash against Windward Islands Volcanoes in the CG Insurance Regional Super50 Cup.
This was confirmed by a release from Cricket West Indies (CWI) detailing that the left-handed all-rounder, Reifer and left-arm spinner, Permaul will be replacing wicketkeeper Kemol Savory and opening batsman Assad Fudadin.
Speaking to the media yesterday, Jaguars’ captain, Leon Johnson, said that he believes that the addition of the two West Indies players will boost the side and gives the team “headache” in selecting the playing XI if everyone in the squad is fit.
“The inclusion of Veerasammy and Raymon obviously gives the team and the guys a big boost. We’ve been playing well and to have two international guys come back, Raymon brings another dimension with his left-arm seam bowling and we all know Veerasammy, a crafty operator so it’s good to have these guys back,” Johnson said.
Permaul comes in as the most capped player in the squad with 93 appearances in List A cricket and 131 wickets while Reifer has featured in 67 matches and scored 10 half-centuries to complement his 69 wickets.
For Volcanoes, Kavem Hodge comes in as a replacement for Desron Maloney. His inclusion was also welcomed by Volcanoes’ skipper, Sunil Ambris, who credited his experience and all-round abilities.
“He brings a lot, I mean he is one of the better players in the team. He is an all-rounder, he is likely to give us 10 overs and as I said he is one of the better batters in the team and he has a lot of experience. He’s been around this Windward Islands team for a while and he knows what it’s like to win a championship,” Ambris said.
Johnson was also wary of Hodge’s inclusion while noting that his troops do not want to become complacent after their nine-wicket win in the group stage.
The Jaguars captain explained, “, we don’t want to get complacent after a good victory on Monday and we know they have probably one of the better players returning. Kavem returning to strengthen their side and as I said to Mr. Spooner, Windward had beaten us in a semi-final already a couple of years ago so obviously they aren’t to be taken lightly, they have quality players in their side and you know in limited overs cricket it’s one day so the team that plays better on the day come out victorious.”
Both captains contended that there are areas which need to be improved on as they look to move one step closer to the Sir Clive Trophy.
“There are a couple of things we need to get right, there are a couple of times we collapsed against Barbados and against Trinidad probably the two better bowling attacks in the competition and we didn’t bat 50 overs, we batted just over 40 overs and that is something we spoke about and is something we don’t want to occur in the knockout.
“We’ve gotten better in the field last game we put down a chance but we’ve gotten better as we progressed. I think fielding is a big part of limited overs cricket and I generally feel the team that field better tend to win tournaments, field better consistently,” said Johnson.
On the other hand Ambris said that he was pleased with the way his team began the tournament.
“We started off really well. I think we played two really poor games but I think the comradery in the team is still really good. The guys are still high spirited and looking forward to the semi-final. We know we didn’t get off to a good start with the bat and that’s something we’ve been struggling with throughout the tournament so that is something we definitely need to address, they seem to be a good batting side, they chase, even though it wasn’t a big total they chased it pretty comfortably…”
Jaguars’ batting has centered on Chandrapaul Hemraj, who at the top of the order has racked up 195 runs so far while Christopher Barnwell (170) and Leon Johnson (109) have notched up centuries already. Shimron Hetmyer has also been among the runs with a tally of 167 inclusive of two half centuries.
Jaguars have been faced with troubles at the top of the order but that seems to be settled with Tevin Imlach joining Hemraj. In the two innings together, the pair added 106 against Trinidad and Tobago Red Force and 62 versus Volcanoes.
Johnson expressed, “He [Imlach] has been putting in a lot of work when he has not been playing. He is a young guy, very fit guy and he works hard on his game. He came in and got his opportunity against Trinidad and did relatively well. I think the left/right combination at the top of the order, over the seasons I think we’ve always had the left handers opening and I think that makes it a bit easier for teams to plan against us…”
For Volcanoes, Ambris has been the point man with 192 runs, highlighted by two fifties along with Keron Cottoy (175) and Kevin Stoute (172) who have propped up the batting order.
In terms of bowling, both teams have been spearheaded by left-arm spinners. In Jaguars’ case, Gudakesh Motie leads the pack and the tournament with a dozen wickets and will be the perfect foil for Permaul while Larry Edwards has been the most impactful bowler for Volcanoes with seven wickets and will be supported by Hodge while Ryan John and Preston McSween has five wickets each.
The semi-final and final start at 1:30pm local time (12:30pm Jamaica Time) and will be live on ESPN Caribbean and live on radio coverage on 10 regional radio stations in partnership with Vibes FM.
The winners of the two semi-finals will meet in the grand final on Saturday at the Coolidge Cricket Ground, where the champions will be awarded the CG Insurance Super50 Sir Clive Lloyd Trophy.
Guyana Jaguars: Leon Johnson (captain), Shimron Hetmyer (vice-captain), Christopher Barnwell, Anthony Bramble, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Tevin Imlach, Keon Joseph, Ramaal Lewis, Gudakesh Motie, Veerasammy Permaul, Akshaya Persaud, Raymon Reifer, Romario Shepherd, Kevin Sinclair, Nial Smith; Esuan Crandon (Head Coach)
Windward Islands Volcanoes: Sunil Ambris (captain), Andre Fletcher (vice-captain), Alick Athanaze, Roland Cato, Keron Cottoy, Kenneth Dember, Larry Edward, Kavem Hodge, Ryan John, Ray Jordan, Kimani Melius, Preston McSween, Kevin Stoute, Emmanuel Stewart, Obed McCoy; Andrew Richardson (Head Coach)
