… Coaches express disappointment
PERSISTENT overnight and early morning rain prevented any play on the first day of the fifth round clash in the West Indies Cricket Board’s (WICB) Regional four-day tournament between Guyana and England ‘A’ at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, yesterday.
While England Lions who have 30 points from their four matches to date were looking for their second victory in this year’s tournament, their hosts, whose batting line-up proved spineless to date and have 13 points, were looking to chalk up their first outright win with a view of increasing their chances of making the final four of the tournament.
In an invited comment with Chronicle Sport after umpires Clyde Duncan and Luther Kelly called off play at 15:50 h yesterday, both coaches Mark Harper of Guyana and Mick Newell from England, expressed disappointment at the loss of play.
“Obviously, we are disappointed. As you are aware, it is a fairly short tournament with only seven games to play and we don’t wish to be wasting time not playing and with the players wandering around all day in the pavilion doing nothing. It is a shame for both teams,” posited Newell.
Asked about his game plan, if there will be changes following the loss of play today, Newell replied in the positive, as his side looks to win the encounter.
“Yes. It is possible we will come and have a go at Guyana over the next three days, once the weather permits us to play. Both teams will need to win, with Guyana trying to get themselves into the semi-final position, but we will have a look and see what happens.
“I think the wicket which has been under covers for the entire day today, will assist the bowling side tomorrow (today), so we will be looking to bowl first if we can and with this ground being okay, once you stick somebody in, you can dismiss them for under 200 and that would be our aim,” stated Newell.
Like Newell, Harper believes it was a disappointment not to have any play on the first day of the match, but believes no one should question the work of God.
“What can I say, yes, I am disappointed that we did not get a chance to play, but then again I don’t believe anyone should question the work of God. Nevertheless, we won’t be making any changes to our game plan even though the time would be short. I expect the guys to go out there and execute the plan, when play does get under way” said Harper.
Essequibo’s youth fast bowler Ronsford Beaton is set to make his first class debut for Guyana when play does get under way, after being named in the final 11, while Royston Crandon was relegated to executing the duties of carrying the towel as he made way for the return of Narsingh Deonarine.