… Trotman wary of Jaguars home advantage

GUYANA Jaguars captain Leon Johnson has urged his batsmen to step up in their penultimate round of Cricket West Indies (CWI) Professional Cricket League (PCL) Regional Four-day championship against Barbados Pride, which starts today at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.

Stressing the fact that the batsmen need to play longer innings, Johnson, Guyana’s most successful first-class leader, said that his team need to learn from their mistakes in the past few games and bounce back on a winning note.

“Definitely there was not a lot of application shown, especially in the last round so the batters obviously need to go out and apply themselves. The guys are good enough, especially at home here, to put up a good show with the bat,” Johnson said.

Despite enduring a third defeat this season, defending champions are still on top of the points table. Jaguars, who are hunting a fifth straight title, lost to hosts Jamaica Scorpions by eight wickets in their eighth round contest last weekend, but remain on top with 117.2 points.

However, Johnson, the former West Indies batsman, admitted that Jaguars have no margin for error.
“We are still atop of the table but we cannot afford anymore slip up … we have two games left and teams behind us with more than 20 points have three more games, Barbados (Pride) being one of those teams; so it’s important that we come out victorious,” Johnson reckoned.

Meanwhile, the selection panel has made two changes to the squad with injured Clinton Pestano making way for off-spinner Ramall Lewis and Akshaya Persaud. replacing fast bowler Keon Joseph.
Further head coach of Barbados Pride, Emmerson Trotman, pointed out that his side are wary of Jaguars’ home advantage, adding that his team will need to play smart cricket over the next four days.

Leeward Islands Hurricanes, who have played one match less than Jaguars, are closing the gap in second position. They have 93.4 points and are closely followed by Barbados Pride on 90.6, also from seven games.
Windward Islands Volcanoes, after eight matches, have 80 points in fourth position, followed by Jamaica Scorpions on 76.4 and Trinidad and Tobago Red Force in the cellar position on 67.4. Scorpions and Red Force have played seven games each.

In other ninth round action will see Jamaica Scorpions host Leeward Islands Hurricanes and Windward Islands Volcanoes would be at home to Trinidad and Tobago Red Force.

Guyana Jaguars squad: Leon Johnson (captain), Chandrapaul Hemraj, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Vishaul Singh, Sherfane Rutherford, Christopher Barnwell, Raymon Reifer, Anthony Bramble, Romario Shepherd, Ramall Lewis, Akshaya Persaud, Gudakesh Motie and Veerasammy Permaul.

Barbados Pride squad: Shamarh Brooks (captain), Rashidi Boucher, Jonathan Carter, Miguel Cummins, Keon Harding, Chaim Holder, Aaron Jones, Nicholas Kirton, Marquino Mindley, Shayne Moseley, Shamar Springer, Tevyn Walcott, Jomel