AFTER competing in four rounds of this year’s West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Regional 4-Day championships, Guyana, who were once a powerhouse in regional cricket, are languishing in the cellar position on six points gained from a first-innings win over the Leeward Islands in the first round.

The Guyanese will swing into action tomorrow at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, against the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) where they will not only be making a return of first class cricket to the venue after a two-year hiatus, but also looking for an improved performance.
The home team, with coach Esaun Crandon and chairman of selectors Rayon Griffith, underwent two days of rigorous training at the venue in sweltering heat, with the coach asking for an improved performance, even as they take the positives from their four previous matches into this encounter.
“We were not consistent enough as a team in both our batting and bowling departments, with our batsmen not posting a good enough first-innings total, with guys getting starts and being unable to carry on, for the bowlers to bowl at, while the bowlers themselves lacked penetration,” said Crandon.
He added, “We were consistent for certain periods, but we fell away while there were some fielding hiccups such as catches being grassed at times during a crucial moment of the game, with the team being unable to rebound from such lapses, but I feel we had some positives which we will be taking into this match against CCC.”
One such positive is the fact that their opponents for tomorrow’s penultimate round clash lost their last game to Trinidad and Tobago while Guyana, who were given a bye for that round, defeated CCC when the two teams met last year at the 3Ws Oval, Cave Hill, Barbados.
The former all-rounder is of the opinion that his team’s work ethics and preparations for the encounter have been a tremendous one, while there is a positive feeling and camaraderie among the team.
One notable absentee was dependable middle-order batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Narsingh Deonarine who was absent on Tuesday, joined the team late Wednesday afternoon, Ramnaresh Sarwan was there as well as Assad Fudadin, with Chandrapaul Hemraj being used as a cover for Chanderpaul, if he is unable to make it in time for tomorrow’s contest.
Guyana’s leading run-scorer in this year’s 4-Day tournament Leon Johnson, Steven Jacobs, Veerasammy Permaul and Devendra Bishoo, are the senior men in the lineup and the ones Crandon is looking forward to carry the team’s attack against the Caribbean students.
“Obviously we are looking at the opposition’s individual players’ strength and weaknesses but at the end of the day, it is a regular practice with most of the guys knowing what needs to be done and just taking the field of play and executing that act.
“We know we are languishing at the bottom of the points table, but we are not taking CCC for granted, but rather staying focus, staying strong as a unit and going out there and playing strong and better cricket against them, exhibiting mental toughness for the entire four days of the contest.
“Our batting will be very important because once we can bat for at least four sessions, then we should get a good total on the board. We have always done well in our bowling but throughout the tournament it is our batting which has let us down,” said Crandon.
The team will be without regular wicketkeeper Derwin Christian, who was axed from the squad for the remainder of the tournament.
Christian, despite having the most dismissals by any wicketkeeper in the competition to date, had a poor showing with the bat and was replaced by 22-year-old Berbician Anthony Bramble who will make his first-class debut.
Also recalled is opening batsman Rajendra Chandrika, dropped after three games in both tournaments due to poor batting form.
Also missing is talented all-rounder Christopher Barnwell who will be leaving for India to begin his Indian Premier League (IPL) stint with Royal Challengers Bangalore today and young Tagenarine Chanderpaul, who has joined the West Indies Under-19 World Cup preparatory camp.
The action will get under way at 10:00hrs each day and admission to the venue is free.

Teams will be chosen from Guyana: Veerasammy Permaul (captain), Assad Fudadin, Rajendra Chandrika, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Leon Johnson, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Narsingh Deonarine, Steven Jacobs, Zaheer Mohammed, Anthony Bramble, Devendra Bishoo, Paul Wintz and Ronsford Beaton

CCC from: Kyle Corbin (captain), Anthony Alleyne, Ryan Austin, Kesrick Williams, Jamal Smith, Jason Dawes, Kevin McClean, Floyd Reifer, Raymon Reifer, Shacoya Thomas, Chadwick Walton, Akeem Dewar, Kristopher Ramsaran.