… No place for Jacobs, Dowlin, Barnwell, Joseph and Stoll
ONCE again, the senior selection panel of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) has dropped a bombshell with their selection of the national team for the first round match in the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Regional four-day competition against Jamaica. Christopher Barnwell, Richard Ramdeen, Keon Joseph, Steven Jacobs, Travis Dowlin and Andre Stoll have all been placed on the standby list, while West Indies ‘A’ team batsman Assad Fudadin will lead the team in the absence of Ramnaresh Sarwan, with Devendra Bishoo as his deputy.
Included in the 14-man squad are Rajendra Chandrika, Shemroy Barrington, Brandon Bess and Essequibo’s Under-19 fast bowler Ronsford Beaton, who is expected to share the new ball with Bess and Esaun Crandon.
Narsingh Deonarine, who opted out of the just concluded WICB T20 tournament with an injury, and Leon Johnson who was overlooked for either the captaincy or vice-captaincy position are also in the lineup, while wicketkeeper/batsman Derwin Christian has found favour with the selection panel, after being asked for the 50 overs tournament late last year.
While Carl Moore has retained his position as manager of the team, former national middle order batsman Rabindranauth Seeram will no longer function in the capacity of coach, since that mantle now rests on the broad shoulders of Mark Harper, another former national player.
What the selectors saw in Beaton, only God in heavens know, since the record shows that for the Demerara/Essequibo four-day encounter last year at the Anna Regina Community Centre ground, he only bowled six overs.
Joseph is encountering the same fate that  Police Sports Club (PSC) fast bowler Trevor Benn endured last year, when he was given the red card by the selection committee after four rounds without playing a match.
Back then, chairman of selectors Claude Raphael said, “It was rather unfortunate Benn had to be the one taking the stripes,” while Joseph who was chosen for the final two rounds, was only given a chance after Bess feigned an injury in the final match.
Jacobs’ last game at the four-day level for Guyana, saw him score 19 against Jamaica and 54 against Trinidad and Tobago, and that was two years ago, and to add insult to injury, the former Guyana and West Indies Under-19 skipper was batting at number eight.
Over the past two years, Barnwell has been used as a first change bowler and was the one doing the damage with the ball, when Bess failed to make an impact even as Esaun Crandon, who has cut back on his pace to work on line and length, was keeping things tight at the other end.
Guyana have failed to make an impression in the four-day tournament for the past three seasons, where they finished either in the cellar position or one rung above that – something Sarwan pointed out on the first day of the encampment period, ahead of the T20 tournament.
The playing of musical chairs with our cricketers need to stop at some point and time in their career and with the gentleman’s game and if we intend to go out there and compete against the other territories, then we should be taking a stronger and more competitive unit to do so.
The Guyana team reads: Assad Fudadin, Rajendra Chandrika, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Shemroy Barrington, Narsingh Deonarine, Leon Johnson, Royston Crandon, Derwin Christian, Devendra Bishoo, Veerasammy Permaul, Esaun Crandon, Ronsford Beaton and Brendon Bess.
The standbys are: Anthony Bramble, Vishaul Singh, Zaheer Mohamed, Steven Jacobs, Andre Stoll, Keon Joseph and Christopher Barnwell, while Carl Moore and Mark Harper will perform the duties of manager and coach respectively.