By Rajiv Bisnauth

ADMITTING the Guyana Jaguars are in a “must-win situation”, coach Esaun Crandon said his players are aware of the importance of today’s start of the final round of the WICB/Professional Cricket League (PCL) four-day Tournament against Jamaica Scorpions at the Guyana National Stadium. The Guyana Jaguars do not have the luxury of experimenting and have no option but to win the game.

They remained at the top of the standings with 130 points, but had their advantage narrowed to only seven points by second-placed Barbados Pride.
The Leon Johnson-led Guyana Jaguars have showed that they can go the distance, winning seven of the nine games so far.
Crandon, the former Guyana cricketer, acknowledged that the Guyana Jaguars will need to play hard and smart cricket over the next four days.
“Definitely we must win this game. A win will give us a good chance of retaining the title, but having said that we have no control over the Barbados game. Once we take care of our business and win this game we will definitely be in with a good chance,” Crandon pointed out.
The Jamaica Scorpions are currently in third-place ahead of Trinidad and Tobago with 82 points, but Crandon acknowledged that the visitors could provide a sterner challenge.
“They have been playing good cricket though they might not be getting the (desired) results. If you look at the last game they played, they came out on top, so they have provided tough games and they have some very good players,” he said, moments before a practice session at the Guyana National Stadium.
The Guyana Jaguars have made two changes to their 13-man squad. Winning West Indies Under-19 World Cup captain Shimron Hetmyer and off-spinner Steven Jacobs, have replaced injured Shivnarine Chanderpaul and fast bowler Ronsford Beaton.
Meanwhile, according to the Jamaica Observer newspaper, the Jamaica Scorpions will be without champion left-arm spinner Nikita Miller.
A news release from the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) said the 33-year-old has returned home for “medical reasons”. He is being replaced by the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) back-of-the-hand left-arm spinner Dennis Bulli.

Miller, among the most successful bowlers in regional first-class cricket, is currently leading the tournament’s bowling chart with 65 wickets. He picked up a match-haul of 7-160 a few days ago as Jamaica completed a nine-wicket away win over the Windward Islands to end a sequence of defeats.
Miller also passed 400 wickets in that game, with 403 first-class wickets at a miserly 16.87 each.
Bulli, a former Jamaica Under-19 representative, is yet to play first-class cricket.
The game starts at 10:00hrs daily and admission to the venue is free. In the other two games, Barbados Pride will play Leeward Islands Hurricanes, while Trinidad and Tobago Red Force come against Windward Islands Volcanoes.
The Guyana Jaguars squad reads: Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Rajendra Chandrika, Leon Johnson (captain), Vishaul Singh (v-captain), Shimron Hetmyer, Raymon Reifer, Anthony Bramble, Christopher Barnwell, Veerasammy Permaul, Gudakesh Motie, Devendra Bishoo, Keon Joseph and Steven Jacobs.