… 4km and gym work set for today

AS CRICKET GUY Inc. (CGI) commences preparations for next month’s West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Professional Cricket League (PCL), the first of its kind from the parent body in the Region, CGI Chairman of Selectors Rayon Griffith said he was pleased with the results of yesterday morning’s beep test.The players, who were drafted to represent the Guyana Jaguars in the PCL and even those who can be selected under the ‘Pay for Play’ system, including dependable West Indies middle order batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul, braved the sweltering heat to attend their first session at the Georgetown Cricket Club ground.
In an invited comment with Chronicle Sport, Griffith, who was ably assisted by a core of coaches – Michael Franco-Hyles, Esaun Crandon, Alfred Smith and Lyndon Wilson just to name a few – said there was vast improvement in comparison to last year when they commenced preparations early.
“That session was wonderful. Judging from the last preparatory camp we had last year, the players have shown tremendous improvement, with their scores for the beep test speaking volumes for them individually,” said Griffith.
Asked if it was surprising to them, as it relates to the beep test results, Griffith replied in the negative, adding, “We know they are aware of what is at stake, especially those who were not selected in the draft, so it was not a surprise at their returns for the beep test, while some of them were training before, during and after the Inter-county tournament.
“In addition to that, we made it clear during last year’s encampment period, what our expectations for this year would be, especially with the implementation of the PCL, so it was only obvious that some of them would have come with sharpened minds geared at working hard.”
The players will return to the venue this morning to undergo the 4km run, followed by gym work which will include strength-testing, and, apart from Barbados Raymond Reifer who will undergo his testing when he joins the squad on November 1, most of the other players were present.