… Not taking U-19s and E’bo lightly

HEAD COACH of the Demerara Cricket Board (DCB) and former national off-spinner Garvin Nedd last Tuesday afternoon informed that he is wary of defending champions Berbice, whom his charges the Christopher Barnwell-led Demerara unit would be facing in the Guyana Cricket Board senior Inter-county tournament which bowls off tomorrow.Also competing in the tournament are perennial whipping boys Essequibo and this year’s successful national Under-19 team which will be led by Brian Sattaur. Nedd stated that he will not be taking these two sides lightly.
Speaking in an invited comment ahead of his team’s practice session at the Demerara Cricket Club ground, the 42-year-old Nedd believes that the composition of the team is one which can go all the way to reclaim the title they lost to their nemesis Berbice in last year’s tournament.
“I think last year we ended as joint winners with Berbice in the limited overs format, while we conceded the four-day title to them, after rain interrupted our final round game, so this year we are looking to come away clear winners of the competition, since I don’t like the idea of shared titles,” said Nedd.
Looking at the composition of the team, which also includes Guyana Amazon Warriors trio, Trevon Griffith, Robin Bacchus and Steven Jacobs, who along with Barnwell were a part of the team for this year’s edition of the Caribbean Premier League, Nedd said they stand a good chance, even though he is not counting out the opposition.
“We stand a good chance this year to come away as clean winners. We have some capable young players in this form of the game. There are players who can also build an innings and even come in at the bottom and get some runs.
“Also we have bowlers who are capable batsmen, while with the ball they can be destructive on their day, such as Paul Wintz who did very well on the local scene in recent times and even when he represented Guyana in the 2010 ICC Champions League; and it is unfortunate that he did not project to the CPL as yet,” said Nedd.
He believes that Wintz will be the bowler to watch and with the lively fast bowler being entrusted with the vice-captaincy position to Barnwell, Nedd is of the opinion that such responsibility will further enable Wintz to demonstrate not only his bowling prowess, but leadership qualities to the necessary authorities.
“There is also, Jacobs, who is a useful off-spinner and reliable middle order batsman and there is Amir Khan, who played for the West Indies at the youth level and also had a few first class games for Guyana, which means we have a complement of players, who I feel once they play to their strengths and identify the weakness of the opposition and exploit it, can be victorious at the end of the day,” posited Nedd.
Asked who he thinks will provide his team with a stern test, the man who played 14 first class matches for Guyana and took 29 wickets at an average of 34.27, readily said without hesitation, Berbice.
“We always know that Berbice … we can beat in the first round and they can come back and defeat us in the final. It is something that we are wary of, especially with that occurring in recent times, so that is one of the areas we are looking to strengthen and ensure we are victorious throughout the tournament.
There is no room for complacency in any of our games, irrespective of who the opposition is. Not forgetting, Essequibo who on their day can spring an element of surprise, winning games that can put a spin on the competition,” said Nedd.
He added, “Then there are the debutants in the young Under-19s, whom I feel played well to cart off both the three-day and limited overs title in this year’s Regional Under-19 tournament, which means they will be riding high on the confidence train coming into this tournament.
“Having said all of that, it is my duty as coach to ensure the guys do not get complacent and take a laid-back approach to their games, but approach each and every match with a must-win attitude regardless of whom we are playing and once we do that, we can be the victorious unit in both formats when this tournament culminates next month.”
Demerara open their campaign for supremacy in the limited overs version of this year’s tournament, against a youthful-looking Essequibo unit, who will be without the services of Guyana and West Indies ‘A’ team fast bowler Ronsford Beaton and the vast-improving Kemo Paul.
Beaton left these shores on Monday along with Leon Johnson, Assad Fudadin and Devendra Bishoo for Barbados, where they will be participating in a preparatory camp prior to the West Indies ‘A’ team tour to Sri Lanka.
However, the unrelated Anthony and Ricardo Adams have been entrusted with the captaincy and vice-captaincy roles for the Cinderella County lineup, which also includes brothers Royan and Norman Fredericks an former national Under-19 vice-captain Royston Alkins.
Kevon Boodie, Ricardo Peters, Anthony ‘Baby’ Ifill, Vijay Surujpaul and Mark Gonsalves, will all lend support with the bat, even as Ifill, Alkins, Ricardo and Anthony Adams, Royan Fredericks, Mark Tyrell and Brian Herbert will chip in with the ball in the bowling department.
Apart from their CPL quartet and Wintz, Demerara’s batting lineup also includes discarded national opener Shemroy Barrington, who will be tasked with the glove work behind the stumps, Andrew Lyght Jr, Yatesh Dhanpaul and the hard-working Chandrapaul Hemraj.
Wintz, Barnwell, Khan, Jacobs, Bacchus, Zaheer Mohammed and Seon ‘Big Neck’ Daniels, will handle Demerara’s bowling duties, with good support (if needed), coming from Griffith and Dhanpaul, the man who picked up the lone five-wicket haul in the first of two trial matches.
Even without Bishoo and Fudadin, Berbice will still be a force to be reckoned with when they face the National Under-19s, as their unit is being led by discarded West Indies middle order batsman Narsingh Deonarine, who after having a miserable first class season with the bat for Guyana earlier this year, went to Trinidad and Tobago and regained his form.
In the batting department, Deonarine can rely on Bishoo, who has proved time and time again that he is no rabbit with the bat, Rajiv Ivan, Anthony Bramble, Kandasammy Surujnarine, Seon Hetmyer, Devon Clements and the hard-hitting Jonathan Foo, who is currently in tremendous form.
In Keon Joseph and Raun Johnson, two players with first-class experience, Berbice boast the best new-ball pair in the Land of Many Waters and with Permaul, Ivan, Clements, Hetmyer, Gudakesh Motie- Kanhai and Krisendat Ramoo in his lineup, Deonarine should not worry, when it comes to the bowling department, since his biggest headache will be handling that unit proficiently.
As they have shown throughout the Regional Under-19 tournament, the Sattaur-led Under-19s will not take their opponents lightly when it comes to limited overs cricket, since they defeated all six of their opponents, before rain prevented them from contesting the final.
Shimron Hetmyer and Tagenarine Chanderpaul were the lone batsmen to record centuries for Guyana in that tournament, doing so in both formats of the game and with the pugnacious Sattaur listed to bat at three and in line for a big total, what better time to do so than against Berbice today.
Batting support will come from Paul, Ashkay Homraj, Ronaldo Ali-Mohammed, Kemol Savory, Shiraz Ramcharran, Balchand Baldeo, Steven Sankar and Damion Waldron, while Paul and Ali-Mohammed will take the sheen off the new ball for Baldeo, Ramcharran, Sankar and Waldron to hopefully decimate the opposition.
Below is a list of all four teams along with the schedule of matches for your perusal:
Demerara: Christopher Barnwell (captain), Paul Wintz (v-captain), Trevon Griffith, Robin Bacchus, Andrew Light, Shemroy Barrington, Rajendra Chandrika, Raj Nannan, Zaheer Mohamed, Amir Khan, Yatesh Dhanpaul, Steven Jacobs, Chanderpaul Hemraj and Seon Daniels. Garvin Nedd (coach), Clive Grimond (manager/assistant coach).
Essequibo: Anthony Adams (captain), Ricardo Adams (v-captain), Royan Fredericks, Norman Fredericks, Kevon Boodie, Ricardo Peters, Royston Alkins, Vijay Surujpaul, Anthony Ifill, Hemchand Persaud, Eknauth Persaud, Mark Tyrell, Brian Herbert and Mark Gonsalves. Leroy Halls (manager), Vibert Johnson (coach).
Berbice: Narsingh Deonarine (captain), Veerasammy Permaul (v-captain), Kandasammy Surujnarine, Seon Hetmyer, Devon Clements, Jonathan Foo, Rajiv Ivan, Anthony Bramble, Jason Sinclair, Romario Shepherd, Gudakesh Motie, Krishendat Ramoo, Keon Joseph and Raun Johnson. Albert Smith, (manager), Hubern Evans (coach).
Guyana U-19: Brian Sattaur (captain), Sharaz Ramcharran (v-captain), Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Shimron Hetmyer, Kemol Savory, Kemo Paul, Keon Morris, Balchan Baldeo, Daniel Basdeo, Steven Sankar, Akel Wallace, Nial Smith, Ronaldo Ali-Mohammed, Damion Waldron and, Ashkay Homraj. David Black (manager), Adrian Amsterdam (coach).

50-Overs Fixture:
Round 1: (September 4) – Essequibo vs. Demerara at Wales; Berbice vs Guyana U-19 at DCC.
Round 2: (September 6) – Guyana U-19 vs Essequibo at DCC; Berbice vs Demerara at Everest.
Round 3: (September 8) – Berbice vs Essequibo at Everest; Demerara vs Guyana U-19 at GCC.
Final: September 13; Alternate day: September 14.

Four-Day Fixture:
Round 1: (September 18-21) – Berbice vs Demerara at GCC; Guyana U-19 vs Essequibo at DCC.
Round 2: (September 24-27) – Essequibo vs Berbice at DCC; Demerara vs Guyana U-19 at Everest.
Round 3: (September 30 – October 3) – Guyana U-19 vs Berbice at Wales; Demerara vs Essequibo at GCC.

(By Calvin Roberts)