-Barnwell tipped to lead side, no place for Fudadin, Foo and Sarwan
ROSE Hall Town Gizmos and Gadget player  Rajiv Ivan and Essequibo’s Dillon Heyliger kicked down the door of the Guyana Cricket Board’s senior selection committee led by former national fast bowler Rayon Griffith, to gain a place in the Guyana team to contest the 2012 West Indies Cricket Board’s Calypso Cup T20 tournament. But while the two are the lone new faces in the 14 man squad, there is no place for national skipper Assad Fudadin, the hard- hitting Jonathan Foo and former skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan, while West Indies T20 all rounder Christopher Barnwell is tipped to lead the team.
Both Ivan and Heyliger were knocking on the selector’s door for a brief period of time, and following their impressive showing for their respective teams in the just concluded GCB organized Carib Beer/Pepsi sponsored T20 tournament, gained a place in the squad.
The 25 year old Ivan has been turning out some impressive performances for his club, having moved from the Karibee Rice Port Mourant Cricket Club, but saved his best performance for last, when he struck 58 from 40 deliveries for the Corentyne Titans in their third place fixture against West Berbice Super Kings.
Heyliger himself showcased his ability to hit the ball hard in the lower order, following his robust 24-ball  35 in the semifinal against the Titans in Sunday’s final against the Georgetown Pitbulls, which took the GCB’s President’s XI to the $1m winner’s purse.
Dependable middle- order batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Royston Crandon, Narsingh Deonarine, Leon Johnson, Devendra Bishoo and Derwin Christian who have all represented the West Indies in some form of the gentleman’s game, are all in the lineup.
West Indies ‘A’ team skipper Veerasammy Permaul has been entrusted with the vice captaincy to Barnwell, while the pugnacious Trevon Griffith, Ronsford Beaton and off spinning all rounder Steven Jacobs complete the squad which will travel to Antigua and Barbados for the tournament.
Rajendra Chandrika, Keon Joseph, Eon Hooper, Anthony Bramble, Elton Baker, Dion Ferrier and the GCB/Carib Beer/Pepsi T20 Most Valuable Player Vishal Singh are all on the standby list.
Meanwhile, the senior selectors were happy to report that they were faced with a difficult task and were pleased by the level of intensity, performance and commitment show by the players in the recently concluded Carib Beer/Pepsi T20 tournament.
The senior selectors urge all players to remain focused on fitness and their game as the opportunity to represent Guyana is a great honor and responsibility, while u urging all county boards, coaches and players to achieve and maintain the WICB required fitness standard for all future tournaments.
The 14 man squad reads: Trevon Griffith, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Leon Johnson, Christopher Barnwell, Royston Crandon, Derwin Christian, Steven Jacobs, Veerasammy Permaul, Devendra Bishoo, Dillon Heyliger, Rajiv Ivan and Ronsford Beaton.
The six standby players are: Rajendra Chandrika, Elton Baker, Anthony Bramble, Vishal Singh, Keon Joseph and Eon Hooper, while the team is expected to undergo an encampment period sometime next week.