… Three-day practice match on from today
THE Mark Harper-coached 30-man squad, which was selected by the Interim Management Committee (IMC) to contest the upcoming West Indies Cricket Board regional four-day tournament, was narrowed down to a 13-man squad for the first match against the Leeward Islands at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, from next Friday. The team will be led by West Indies middle-order batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan and while no deputy has been named, other players of the calibre of Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Devendra Bishoo, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Narsingh Deonarine and Christopher Barnwell, who all have West Indies experience, are included in the lineup.
Talented opener Rajendra Chandrika is the lone new face in the squad, while there is a return to first class duty for Brandon Bess, who played one Test match for the West Indies during South Africa’s 2010 tour to the Caribbean.
Other members of the team: are Veerasammy Permaul, Derwin Christian, Ronsford Beaton and Assad Fudadin, while long-serving manager Carl Moore has been retained to execute the duties of manager.
Meanwhile, in an invited comment with Chronicle Sport, Harper, who along with Roderick Lovell, Orin Bailey and fitness trainer Kezqweyah Yisrael took the players through their respective drills yesterday, said the time frame is too short, but they plan to make the best of what is offered to them.
“Anybody who has been around any standard of cricket would know that a week and a bit is too short to prepare any team, but that is the time we have to work with and we have to make sure we do what we can to get the team ready during that period.
We started yesterday (Thursday) with some fitness and as you can see, the guys are finishing off some fitness drills,” said Harper.
He added, “This morning we had some net sessions followed by fielding drills and some more fitness sessions, wherein we were focusing on strength work, while we will be having a three-day practice match commencing tomorrow right here at the stadium, with a pool session following sometime next week.”
The 54-year-old Harper said there will be meetings held during the coming week, aimed at gearing the players’ minds towards going out and performing exceedingly well, amidst the troubled times Guyana’s cricket is facing.
“It is nice to see players such as Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan back in the team, while we have the services of Chandrika (Rajendra), and our spin twins Bishoo and Permaul to lead our bowling and it is good to have them.
“If one can recall, last year against Barbados right here in Guyana we were in a comfortable position and were forced to relinquish same, after we lost the services of Bishoo who was called up to West Indies duties during the ICC World Cup and that’s a game we really should have won.
“We are stressing that the guys need to concentrate on the cricket and let the officials deal with the off-the-field issues that are affecting the cricket. Our job is to get them ready for the tournament and we will be doing that to the best of our ability,” said Harper.
Asked to comment on the number of players who were present for the sessions so far, the soft-spoken coach said, ‘While it would have been nice to have the entire squad present, (Chanderpaul, Deonarine and Chattergoon were missing) he is willing to work with whoever turns up, irrespective of the numbers.
Like Harper, Sarwan who regained the captaincy after a two-year absence, alluded to the fact that the preparation period was short, but they have to work with what they have, despite the numerous shortfalls that is occurring in Guyana’s cricket at the moment.
“I think it is important for the players to get their minds together and play cricket. I don’t think fitness (physical) is an issue with the players as most of them were playing cricket.
The advantage we have is we are playing at home for our first four games and we just have to take it game by game. We have two quality spinners in Bishoo who is established and young Permaul who is getting there and hopefully we can take it from there.” said Sarwan.
Asked to comment on his own fitness, the diminutive right-hander said he is in the pink of condition and ready to go out there and do his best for Guyana, while he himself is looking to have a productive season with the bat.
Meanwhile, the two teams for the three-day practice match which bowls off at 09:30hrs each day at the Providence stadium, will be led by Sarwan and former skipper Assad Fudadin and it reads:
Sarwan’s XI from: Ramnaresh Sarwan (captain), Rajendra Chandrika, Trevon Griffith, Steven Jacobs, Royston Crandon, Christopher Barnwell, Ronsford Beaton, Keon Joseph, Raj Nannan, Anthony Bramble, Devendra Bishoo, Jason Sinclair and Vishaul Singh.
Fudadin’s XI from: Assad Fudadin (captain), Sewnarine Chattergoon, Shemroy Barrington, Leon Johnson, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Gajanand Singh, Derwin Christian, Amir Khan, Brandon Bess, Veerasammy Permaul, Zaheer Mohammed, Paul Wintz, Seon Daniels, Leon Scott and Clinton Pestano.
The Guyana team to contest the first match against the Leeward Islands reads: Ramnaresh Sarwan (captain), Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Rajendra Chandrika, Narsingh Deonarine, Assad Fudadin, Leon Johnson, Derwin Christian, Christopher Barnwell, Brandon Bess, Veerasammy Permaul, Devendra Bishoo, Ronsford Beaton.