In a little over two weeks, on February 7, the Guyana Harpy Eagles will begin the defence of their West Indies Championship title with a clash against eternal rivals Trinidad & Tobago Red Force at the Conaree Cricket Centre in St. Kitts.
With the first trial match badly affected by rain last week, the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) found it prudent to have a second match scheduled for this week. That match bowls off today from 9:30 am on a spin-friendly pitch at the Meten-Meer-Zorg Community Ground on the West Coast of Demerara.
Leg spinner Steven Sankar, middle order batsman Kevlon Anderson and opener Raymond Perez were the standout performers in the first match and will be keen to keep up their performances to maximise their chances of being selected.
Sankar has long shown potential after almost a decade in the game but recently he has upped his game and had great returns of 3/19 and 6/52 in the first trial match to surely grab the selectors’ attention. His match haul of 9/71 played a key role in Nandu’s XI six-wicket victory.
Meanwhile Perez opening alongside Matthew Nandu for the latter’s XI had scores of 41 and 76 not out. Neither of the duo who both play for the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) has ever received a senior national team call up.
Anderson, who made his first class debut last season, strengthened his case for a permanent spot in the Harpy Eagles setup with a classy 122 in the second innings, a lone hand for Antony Adams XI.
The 2024 West Indies Championship will begin with the opening three rounds spanning from 7 to 24 February. In the first block
of games, matches will take place in two host countries: St. Kitts and Nevis at two venues, Warner Park and the Conaree Cricket Centre, and in Jamaica, at three venues, Sabina Park, Kensington Cricket Club, and Chedwin Park.
The second block of matches occur on 13 March, with the fourth and fifth rounds scheduled to be held in Trinidad and Tobago at the Queen’s Park Oval, the Diego Martin Sports Complex and the Sir Frank Worrell Cricket Ground at UWI Spec, and in Antigua and Barbuda at the Coolidge Cricket Ground.
The tournament will then restart after Easter with the final two rounds from the 10th to the 20th pf April with matches in Antigua and Barbuda, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.
The first two sets of matches:
7 to 10 February:
Jamaica Scorpions vs Windward Islands Volcanoes – Sabina Park, Jamaica
CCC vs Barbados Pride – Chedwin Park, Jamaica
Leeward Islands Hurricanes vs West Indies Academy – Warner Park, St. Kitts
Guyana Harpy Eagles vs Trinidad & Tobago Red Force – Conaree Cricket Centre, St. Kitts
14 to 17 February:
Jamaica Scorpions vs CCC – Sabina Park, Jamaica
Barbados Pride vs Windward Islands Volcanoes – Kensington Cricket Club, Jamaica
Leeward Islands Hurricanes vs Guyana Harpy Eagles – Warner Park, St. Kitts
Trinidad &Tobago Red Force vs West Indies Academy – Conaree Cricket Centre, St. Kitts
