(In Barbados, compliments of Star Party Rentals, Igloo Ice-cream, NAMILCO and Giftland OfficeMax)
DESPITE making it two out of two when they defeated Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) by four wickets last Sunday, captain of the Guyana team Ramnaresh Sarwan said there are areas for improvement within his team and their performances. “Everything has been going well for us so far in the tournament. As I said before we left Guyana, I think this is one of the better team spirit we have had while I have been around playing cricket for Guyana; but there are a few areas we need to improve on.
Nevertheless, the guys have been learning very quickly as they have not been repeating the same mistakes in the two matches so far and I wish for them to continue in that manner,” stated Sarwan.
Guyana defeated the Windward Islands by five wickets in their first-round encounter, before they stopped the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) in their second match with veteran all-rounder Lennox Cush playing a pivotal role with the ball in both matches where he has picked up a total of eight wickets, including his second Regional 20/20 hat-trick.
“Our bowling still remains the same, despite Cush’s efforts with the ball, while our batting is our strength. Over the years, Cush has been doing a great job for us in both 20/20 and 50 overs cricket,” said Sarwan.
Sarwan added: “That’s why he has been brought into the side. He has the experience and he deserves every success he has been having at the moment.
However, it is important we try and build towards achieving our goal which is wining this tournament, by taking it one match at a time.
The support cast in the bowling department such as Christopher Barnwell, Devendra Bishoo and the Crandon brothers has done well also and I think we have been bowling and batting as a team and that brought us our successes to date.”

FOO
With Guyana’s most experienced batsman  Shivnarine Chanderpaul opting to fulfil his English County contract with Durham, Sarwan said his absence would be irreplaceable in the lineup, but at the same time would provide an opportunity for a young batsman.
“From the start of the tournament, I said there is no one who can replace Shiv and that’s how it will remain. However, I also said his absence would present an opportunity for a young player and I think Jonathan Foo is that player and he has started to pull through.”
Sarwan was referring to the 19-year-old match-winning innings against the Windward Islands in the first round, where the Albion Sports Club all-rounder struck a whirlwind 9-ball unbeaten 24.
“Foo has been great for us. The first time I saw him batting at the Guyana National Stadium, I was impressed as I never saw him bat before. I took it upon myself and ask a couple of guys in the team as well as my younger brother about him (Foo) and they all said he strikes the ball very cleanly.
“A closer look at him in the net sessions we had during the encampment period vetoed the selector’s choice and while there was a lot of criticisms as to why he was selected over some other players, I am happy at the way he has been performing.
“While we don’t wish to look too far ahead, it’s obvious that the team would like for Foo to continue doing what he is doing and I hope he stays focused as there is a bright future for him.”
When asked about Foo batting ahead of Cush who opened the batting with West Indies opener Travis Dowlin in the 2006 Stanford 20/20 tournament which Guyana won, Sarwan said it was not an experiment, as Cush was picked to bowl while Foo was picked to bat.
“The move to have Foo bat ahead of Cush in the two matches was never an experiment. In fact, I don’t think we had the opportunity to experiment in our two matches so far and I do hope we will not be presented with an opportunity to do so for the remainder of the tournament.
He wants to see his team continue playing the way they have been doing as a team, with improvements in those areas which needed to be improved on.
Once we can continue with the momentum we have here, then everything is going to fall into place for us, culminating with us being crowned champions once again next Saturday at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad.”