Members of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) selection committee yesterday said that Ashmead Nedd’s selection ahead of Antony Adams on the Guyana Harpy Eagles squad for this year’s regional four-day competition was a case of timing as well as long-term prospects.
Nedd, 22, and Adams, 29, are both left-arm orthodox spinners who were in competition for one of the spots on the 13-member team named for the first two matches of the Cricket West Indies 2023 Regional Four-Day competition which bowls off next week.
Chairman of the national cricket selection panel Ravindranauth Seeram and Albert Clements, a former national coach, a conference yesterday said that they felt Adams left it a little too late for him to be selected.
Seeram, Clements, Peter Persaud and Elroy Stephney of Essequibo are the members of the senior selection panel.
“What happened was we were given a timeline to select the team and based on that, we selected the team and Friday, the 20th [January] and Antony Adams got his four wickets after the team was selected so based on that, we saw Nedd bowling, he was bowling pretty well where chances were given off him and I think that’s the reason Nedd was selected ahead of Adams,” he said.
Seeram, a former national cricketer also said that Nedd was also given preference since he was a West Indies Emerging Player. Meanwhile, Clements, who is also the Manager of the Guyana Harpy Eagles side, said Nedd has experience against regional players and has shown better control.
“As an Emerging Player and Nedd, having played in the Regional 50-over [tournament], he would have been exposed already to some of the regional batsmen and as manager what I have seen in the last few series is that the bowlers, even the top ones we had, Motie (Gudakesh) and Permaul (Veerasammy), was the control, the consistent control, even in the four-day sometimes you need to lock down, need somebody who can, when things getting tough lock down and Nedd has established that,” he declared.
Clements related that another factor was the quality of batsmen dismissed and said that at a crucial juncture Nedd came and got wickets or triggered a dropped catch off his bowling.
Two former Essequibo cricketers Dilon Heyliger and Devon Ramnauth have questioned the non-selection of Adams who they say have been in the setup for a while and should have been chosen since he was next in line.
Heyliger was quoted in another section of the media as saying… “We want answers”? Ramnauth said that while Adams had a best of 4-25 in the second practice game Nedd only took three wickets in both matches.
“The other left-arm spinner Ashmead Nedd, who was selected, only took three wickets in both matches. Adams’ YOYO Fitness score was 50 while Nedd’s score was only 30,” Ramnauth was quoted as saying in the Guyana Chronicle.
Captain of the Guyana Harpy Eagles side Leon Johnson, who said he learnt of the team via a Facebook post, said in another section of the media that he thought Adams was close to selection.
“I thought he [Antony Adams] would have been very close to selection…he was with the team last year and he has been a very consistent performer for the last decade or so,” he was quoted as saying in a Newsroom article.
According to Johnson it was difficult for Adams to force his way into the regional four day team with the likes of Devendra Bishoo, Veerasammy Permaul and Gudakesh Motie around.
“When these guys are available it is always hard for him [Adams] to get into the side and when you [also] look at the composition of the side, we would play two spinners along with all-rounders and two fast-bowlers, so it was always hard for him to get into the side.Now that Motie is unavailable due to West Indies selection, you thought a player like Antony, who is not experienced at the First-Class level, but he is very experienced generally, would have gotten the nod,” said Johnson.
The issue has also attracted the attention of Dr Leslie Ramsammy the former Health Minister who said in another section of the media that he did not think that the best squad was selected.
“I stand here to say that the best team representing Guyana is not going on to the regional cricket (tournament),” Dr Ramsammy was quoted as saying in a Newsroom interview.
“Cricket is too important to become a collateral victim of people not using the proper rationale and procedure to select our teams,” Dr Ramsammy added.
“We have to select our best cricketers to represent our clubs, to represent our county and to represent our country,” Dr. Ramsammy declared.
The squad announced by the selectors is Leon Johnson, captain, Veersammy Permaul, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Matthew Nandu, Kemol Savory, Tevin Imlach, Anthony Bramble, Kevin Sinclair, Nial Smith, Ronsford Beaton, Akshaya Persaud, Ashmead Nedd and Shamar Joseph.
The standbys are Mavindra Dindyal, Kevlon Anderson, Demetri Cameron, Richie Looknauth and Antony Adams.
The head coach is Ryan Hercules and his assistant is Garvin Nedd.
