… Tiger expected to appear also
FINALLY, the Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA) has consented to utilise the services of West Indies all-rounder Dwayne John Bravo for the second annual DJ Stress Twenty20 Festival which is set to bowl off at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, on Sunday. Bravo will be joined by his West Indies teammate, Barbados left-arm orthodox spinner Sulieman Benn, while dependable middle-order batsman Shivnarine ‘Tiger’ Chanderpaul is also expected to appear for the Gizmos and Gadgets-sponsored Georgetown Pitbulls.
Bravo’s participation for the Pitbulls was a bit cloudy, for even though the talismanic all-rounder indicated his willingness to make an appearance for the GCA team, the executives had to confirm him doing so, which they eventually did.
The 28-year-old Benn is the skipper of Spartan Cricket Club in Barbados and has already played 29 T20 matches, where he picked up 35 wickets at an average of 17.60, with his best figures being 4-6.
According to the promoter of the event which has been on the lips of all and sundry over the last weekend, Paul Bonar, Chanderpaul is set to make an appearance for the Pitbulls, which would serve as an added boost to a team that boasts a batting lineup with the calibre of Christopher Barnwell, Trevon Griffith, Leon Johnson and West Indies opener Travis Dowlin.
Chanderpaul has played 35 matches where he amassed 534 runs at an average of 18.41 with his highest score being 64 at a strike rate of 99.25, while he has played 22 matches in the shortest form of the game for the West Indies, scoring 343 runs at an average of 20.17 and a strike rate of 98.84.
Dowlin is the more productive of the quartet with the bat, as he has accumulated 401 runs from 12 T20 matches at an average of 50.12 and a strike rate of 112.01, while his highest score is an unbeaten 80 made against Trinidad and Tobago in the final of the inaugural Stanford 20/20 tournament which was held in 2006 in Antigua.
Both Barnwell and Griffith are pugnacious opening batsmen and with Chanderpaul, Dowlin and Bravo in the middle, followed by national wicketkeeper/batsman Darwin Christian and Johnson who have both been having a great time with the bat in the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB)/Digicel Summer Slam competition, the Pitbulls should have no worry with their batting lineup.
It is also rumoured that former national all-rounder Lennox Cush who is the only bowler to have taken a hat-trick in the Stanford 20/20 tournament, having done so in Guyana’s 2008 semifinal loss to Jamaica, will be appearing for the Pitbulls.
Certainly, cricket-starved fans who are expected to throng the venue on Sunday, will be having their money’s worth of action, as West Indies skipper and talismanic opener Christopher Gayle, along with Lendl Simmons and Rayad Emrit, is expected to don the blue and yellow of the defending champions Hotel Tower New Line Cavaliers.
Also in the NLC line-up are former West Indies Under-19 skipper Andre Percival, national middle-order batsman and skipper Gajanand Singh, the pugnacious Andrew Lyght Jr and talented all-rounders Chien Gittens and Paul Wintz.
Mahendra Nagamootoo has opted to represent T&T’s Moosai Cricket Club who will be sponsored by Digicom and even though not much is known about the composition of the team, what should speak volume for Moosai is the fact that Nagamootoo opted to play for them and not NLC.
The fourth team in the Festival is Berbice/Universal DVD Club Titans, led by West Indies limited overs player Royston Crandon and includes his elder brother Esaun, national opener Sewnarine Chattergoon and the talented but temperamental youth batsman Jonathan Foo.
Many would recall the management of NLC’s move in last year’s final, when both Foo and Percival were added to the roster before the final against the Pitbulls, just after the former had finished guiding Berbice to the Under-19 title with a destructive batting display against Demerara.
Krisendat Ramoo, Richard Ramdeen and Devon Clements can all destroy a bowling attack on their day, while both Esaun and Royston Crandon are no rabbits with the bat either, which leaves the Ancient County as a strong contender along with the others.
What is a fact is that an array of stars both local and foreign will be on show in what is expected to be a marquee event on the calendar of the GCB, as both the organiser and the governing body intend to make it an annual affair.