WITH over three weeks of preparation under their belt and a lineup that includes two players who have played for the West Indies at the Test level, local T20 champions Universal DVD Club Berbice Titans coach Adrian Amsterdam warned his opponents for the upcoming Hits and Jams Masters T20 tournament that his side is coming. Speaking with Chronicle Sport after another intense training session at the Albion Community Centre ground, Amsterdam said the Royston Crandon-led Titans are brimming with confidence and are eagerly looking forward to participating in the tournament. “This Berbice team is a great one, made up of players who are hungry for success. We have been training, working and gelling as a team for the past three weeks, in preparation for this tournament – one where we will be going in as the underdogs,” said Amsterdam.
The national Under-15 coach added, “We don’t mind being the underdogs, as it will place us in an advantageous position to go out there and perform to the best of our ability, especially knowing that we will be entering the tournament without any foreign players in our lineup.”
The Titans had a practice game against the Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA)/Digicel’s T20 champions Demerara Cricket Club last Sunday and came away with a comfortable four-wicket victory, thanks to Jonathan Foo’s pugnacious unbeaten ton.
A smiling Amsterdam showered praise on the 20-year-old power-hitting middle order batsman who slammed 11 sixes and 10 fours in his unbeaten 126, which helped the Titans overhaul DCC’s 195 for 4, of which Leon Johnson, who is a member of the Hits and Jams Super Stars lineup, made an unbeaten 57.
“We all know that Jonathan can hit the ball hard, irrespective of the size of the ground, so what he did today just serves as a reminder to all of us and with our squad being a balanced one on both sides of the coin, I am eagerly looking forward to Friday when we play our first match against the Superstars.
“We know of Chris Gayle’s ability to hit the ball hard, but while they may have a plan to score and score quickly against us, we have our very own also and once we execute our game plan effectively, we will walk away with our reputation as national T20 champions intact,” said Amsterdam.
The team from the Ancient County believe the hard-hitting Jamaican opener is susceptible to spin bowling and with that in mind, they only have three fast bowlers in Esaun Crandon (who replaced Narsingh Deonarine), Brandon Bess and Michael Newland in their 14-man squad.
West Indies leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo, his national spin-twin Veerasammy Permau, Royston Crandon and Krisendat Ramoo, who dismissed Gayle in last year’s DJ Stress T20 Festival, are all in the lineup and should make the starting 11 on what may be a docile Providence track.
When quizzed on the team’s refusal to exercise the use of the foreign-based players, Amsterdam said it was a decision taken by those in authority, but cautioned those who may wish to discourage his side because of same.
“Everyone knows what benefits players like the Gayles, Bravos, Samuels, Simmons and even the Benns and Edwards can bring to a team. But what they need to understand also is that a team who train and play together know the strengths and weaknesses of their teammates and can readily work on whichever one needs remedial work.
“For the past three weeks, we have been working and training together as a team, with a few practice matches to see the areas that need strengthening and so far, I am impressed with the way things have gone for us leading up to the tournament
“We have been working on the mental aspects of our cricket and while we don’t have any overseas Internationals in our team, we have players who have played at the highest level and understand what is required in this format of the game so we are confident of making Berbice proud again,” said Amsterdam.
The Titans were scheduled to face New Line Cavaliers in another practice game at the Lusignan Community Centre ground today, while they will wind down their preparation with light fielding drills and net sessions in Berbice.
The action bowls off at 17:00hrs on Friday, with New Line Cavaliers, whose lineup includes Mahendra Nagamootoo, Lendl Simmons, Andre Percival and Gajanand Singh, taking on the Ramnaresh Sarwan-led Georgetown Pitbulls in the first encounter.
Universal DVD Club’s Berbice Titans will then oppose the Hits and Jams Super Stars in the second match which will bowl off at 20:00hrs for a place in the final, where they play the winner of the Cavaliers/Pitbulls encounter.