(In Barbados compliments of: Giftland, P&P Insurance, Lifetime Realty and Kei-shar’s Gift Shoppe)
HAVING been bowled out for 78 in their last game against England Lions, a weaker-looking Guyana line-up will take on frontrunners Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) in their sixth round encounter of this year’s West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Regional four- day competition at the 3Ws Oval, Cave Hill Barbados from today. Strangely, while both Assad Fudadin and Mark Harper, the captain and coach respectively have been calling on their batsmen to apply themselves and post better scores for the bowlers who have been having a grand time with the ball so far this season, the senior selection panel sought to strengthen the bowling attack, while weakening the batting line-up for this encounter.
Many cricket enthusiasts felt that the rain, which for the first time washed out an entire day’s play at the Guyana National Stadium in the last round, prevented Guyana from suffering another humiliating defeat this season.
The Guyanese had a bright start when they took first innings points from defending champions Jamaica, only to lose that match, following Marlon Samuels’ double ton before their entire second round game against the Leeward Islands was washed out.
An outright defeat at the hands of the Windward Islands in the third round was followed by first innings victory over Barbados in another rain-ruined encounter, before the embarrassment of being bowled out for 78 against the Lions, who took first innings points, albeit on the final day of the match.
For today’s encounter, Fudadin will have the opportunity of batting in the middle order, after being asked to open the innings with Rajendra Chandrika, who will be partnered by Young Warriors’ Richard Ramdeen.
Former West Indies Under-19 skippers Leon Johnson and Steven Jacobs, along with discarded West Indies middle order batsman Narsingh Deonarine and Vishal Singh, will lend support to Fudadin in the middle order, but that depends on whether Jacobs is given his first match of the season.
With the disposal of both Gajanand Singh whose place in the team continues to be likened to the moonlight game ‘Musical Chairs’ along with the Crandon brothers, Esaun and Royston, and Christopher Barnwell, Derwin Christian will have to step up to the plate with the bat.
Zaheer Mohammed is no rabbit with the bat on his day, but his shady performance against the Lions can almost guarantee Jacobs a place in the final eleven, especially with Jacobs bringing a much better all-round game to the table.
Veerasammy Permaul, Brandon Bess, Ronsford Beaton and Keon Joseph complete the Guyana touring party –  a weak/spineless batting line-up without the services of West Indies middle order batsmen Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul and discarded openers Travis Dowlin and Sewnarine Chattergoon.
Permaul must have been enduring sleepless nights, asking himself how he would spearhead the bowling attack, which has not sparked since Devendra Bishoo departed for the Asian Continent to join the West Indies at the ICC World Cup.
Beaton got his first game against the Lions after travelling with the team for the first four rounds and looked out of sorts, while Bess has been showing signs of improvement, especially after snaring his first five-wicket haul.
Arguably, Joseph is the fastest youth bowler in the Land of Many Waters, but his work ethics has left much to be desired. If he is selected for this encounter, he will be asked to share the new ball with Bess, leaving Permaul and Mohammed or Jacobs to take care of the spin department, with some assistance from Deonarine and Johnson while Fudadin can chip in with his medium pace.
These two teams have met on four occasions, with the CCC holding the upper hand by recording two victories over the Guyanese, doing so by 96 runs at Kensington Oval in 2009 and by five wickets at the 3Ws Oval last year.
This time around, the Omar Phillips-led students line-up includes one of Barbados’ promising young batsman in Kyle Corbin, along with Carlos Braithwaite, Romel Currency and Nekoli Parris who will look to continue their impressive showing this season.
Player/coach Floyd Reifer will look to add more salt to Guyana’s wounds suffered this year, by adding his support and expertise to the CCC line-up, with added support from Shacoya Thomas.
The home team bowling will rest on the shoulders of Gilford Moore, a Guyanese studying at the Cave Hill Campus of the West Indies, Kevin McLean and Shervon Penco, while spin will come from the experienced pair of Kavesh Kantasingh and Ryan Austin.
CCC go into this encounter which gets under way at 09:30 h on 33 points and in fourth position, while Guyana, who badly need a win to keep their final four hopes alive, have 19 points from their five matches to date.
Teams will be chosen from:
Combined Campuses and Colleges: Omar Phillips (captain), Kyle Corbin, Kjorn Ottley, Raymond Reifer, Romel Currency, Nkrumah Bonner, Ryan Austin, Kavesh Kantasingh, Carlos Braithwaite, Kevin McLean, Gilford Moore, Shervon Penco and Shacoya Thomas
Guyana: Assad Fudadin (captain), Rajendra Chandrika, Richard Ramdeen, Leon Johnson, Steven Jacobs, Narsingh Deonarine, Vishal Singh, Derwin Christian, Zaheer Mohammed, Veerasammy Permaul, Brandon Bess, Ronsford Beaton and Keon Joseph.