By Rajiv Bisnauth

THE culmination of weeks, months and years of toil and graft will be rewarded when Kevon Boodie walks to the crease to make his full Guyana senior debut on January 7.The Essequibo batsman jetted off with a 14-man strong Guyana Jaguars squad yesterday bound for St Kitts where they will play their preliminary games in the 2016 NAGICO Super50 tournament.
It is the latest spike in a career already chock-full of high points for the 22-year-old.
Speaking with this publication yesterday, Boodie said that he was thrilled over his call-up, adding that his hard work with the bat had finally paid off.
“I’m absolutely delighted at the moment about the selection. I’ve been scoring runs so I’m happy it’s been rewarded,” said Boodie.
Boodie has practically batted himself into the senior team’s fold after he smashed his way to 217 in the second round of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Senior Inter-County 50-Overs tournament in 2014.
The hard-hitting opening batsman has matured in his approach to the game, and after much persistence, confidence and hard work he is now closer to his dream of playing the game at the highest level.
“My plan is to continue playing the way I have been playing and it should continue to bring me runs as well as help the team to win the title,” Boodie acknowledged.
Boodie joined left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie and fast bowler Romario Shepherd as the three new caps named in the Guyana Jaguars squad.
The NAGICO Super50 tournament will again be contested between eight teams, comprising the six territorial franchises, as well as the Marooners and an ICC Americas composite side.
The Jaguars have been placed in Group ‘B’ alongside Jamaica Scorpions, Windward Islands Volcanoes and Leeward Islands Hurricanes. Group ‘B’ will be played in St Kitts.
The top two teams from each group advance to the semi-finals at Queen’s Park Oval, where the group winners play the runners-up from the opposite group in a one-off match for a place in the Grand Final on Sunday, January 24, at the same venue.
This equals a total of 27 matches for the biggest, senior regional domestic 50 overs-a-side tournament ever staged by the WICB.
Group ‘A’, which will be played in Trinidad and Tobago, comprises Red Force, Marooners, Barbados Pride and ICC Americas.