GCB/Castrol Under-15 …
HOSTS Essequibo should be looking to rebound from their dismal performance in their first two matches of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB)-organised, Castrol-sponsored Inter-county Under-15 limited overs tournament, with a victory over a strong Berbice side today. A closer look at their performance in those two matches against Demerara, who are the defending champions, saw them have the upper hand, as they pegged their opponents back on both occasions, but inconsistency was their downfall.
Essequibo’s opening bowlers kept a tight rein on the Demerara batting, even though the pugnacious Brian Sattaur got away with a few boundaries, but what coach Forbes Daniels should take a closer look at, with regard to the team, is the performance of medium fast bowler Hassan Mohamed.
Prior to the Guyana senior team opposing Barbados at Albion in the West Indies Cricket Board four-day competition this year, former Guyana and West Indies skipper Clive Lloyd had a pep session with the Demerara-based players before their departure for the Ancient County and he used former New Zealand fast  bowler Sir Richard Hadlee as an example.
According to Lloyd, Sir Richard Hadlee won’t mind giving away a boundary or two in his spell, as long as he had his man and same can be said about Mohammed.
In both matches, he was struck for boundaries by Sattaur, but he got the last laugh when he had him making his way back to the pavilion, caught off the leading edge on both occasions.
But for them to have Demerara recover from 91-6 in the first match and 99-4 in the second to post scores of 198-9 and 194-7 from 45 and 50 overs respectively, leaves many to wonder about their improvements in the game over the past year.
Skipper Ricardo Adams displayed a controlled line and length with the ball in both matches where he bowled medium pace in the first and his known left-arm orthodox spin in the second, while Herry Greene, the younger brother of Herell Greene, has come on by leaps and bounds with his left-arm orthodox spin bowling.
Not much can be said about their spinners, led by Greene, with worthy support from Moin Khan, Hemant Kowshaldai and to a lesser extent, Adams, but the area of concern for both Daniels and Adams, would be the batting and with their opponents for today’s game being seasoned campaigners back in the Ancient County, there would be no room for complacency by the Essequibians.
In the second game against Demerara, they were coasting along at 50 without loss from 15 overs in search of 195 and before one could have blinked the eye twice, they were scuttled out for 80 from 37.1 overs, which meant they lost 10 wickets for 30 runs from 22.1 overs.
Adams, Greene, Kowshaldai, Raj Parbattie and Andy Dass would need to offer more support to their openers Shavindra Hardat and Mark Gonsalves, if they are looking to pull off an upset victory over Berbice, who themselves are no pushovers in local cricket.
The multi-talented Shawn Pereira has been entrusted with the responsibilities of leading a team which includes Shailendra Shameer, Romario De Jonge, Manoj Looknauth, Nazrudeen Bux, Shimron Hetmyer, Quacy McPherson and his deputy Gudakesh Motie Kanhai.
The abovementioned players have been among the runs and wickets for their respective club teams, prior to their participation in the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB)-organised NCN Channel 15-sponsored Under-15 Inter-zone competition.
Apart from being a useful middle order batsman, Pereira is also an amicable supporter in the spin department to Motie Kanhai while fast bowler Nial Smith, the son of former national coach Albert Smith, will spearhead that department for the Berbicians.
Teams for this encounter which commences at 09:30 h, will be chosen from: (Berbice) – Shawn Pereira (captain), Gudakesh Motie Kanhai (vice-captain), Romario De Jonge, Parmanand Narine, Devin Baldeo, Quacy McPherson, Shailendra Shameer, Viendra Gooniah, Nazrudeen Bux, Sharaz Ramcharran, Royston Wade, Shimron Hetmyer and Manoj Looknauth.
Essequibo: Ricardo Adams (captain), Herry Greene (vice-captain), Mark Gonsalves, Shivindra Hemraj, Andy Dass, Raj Parbattie, Tameshwar Dhanpaul, Hassan Mohamed, Devon George, Dexter Williams, Travis Johnson, Hemraj Kowlessar and Mikel Garraway.