… Batsmen should take full responsibility, says Grimmond

THE Guyana Jaguars 20-run defeat at the hands of Jamaica Scorpions in the Super50 match on Tuesday evening in Barbados is their fourth defeat in seven matches and they are now effectively out of the competition. Their final game against ICC Americas today is merely a formality.

The performances from the Jaguars are simple the worst in a long time, and definitely an explanation is needed from head coach Esaun Crandon, assistant coach Rayon Griffith and skipper Leon Johnson when the team returns home.
The blame game has been going on in full force, but much of the wrath has been directed at some of the Jaguars’ wretched batsmen, who have looked incompetent.
However, in an invited comment yesterday, coach Clive Grimmond, who worked with all the players prior to their departure for Barbados, blamed the batsmen’s lack of consistency as the chief reason for the team’s failure.
“Our batting let us down. We all know the strength of the batting department, but some of them failed to come to grips and be consistent,” Grimmond said.
He added, “Once we put runs on the board, we have a bowling unit who can defend the totals, but our batsmen, especially at the top failed us.”.

Grimmond strongly feels that the batsmen should take full responsibility for the Jaguars’ poor showing.
When questioned if preparations leading up to the tournament could have had some effect for such poor performances Grimmond said, “No way, I think the preparation was spot on.
“I don’t think the preparation could have been any better. We focused immensely on our strength and conditioning prior to the tournament, so I don’t think preparation was an issue, as I said before our batting let us down.”
The team failed to muster 250 runs in any single innings during the seven matches, with only Shivnarine Chanderpaul managing a century.
Barring the top order failure, Chanderpaul has been the backbone of the Jaguars’ batting line-up. Always reliable, throughout most of his illustrious career, the 42-year-old is the second top Jaguars batsman with an aggregate of 199 runs at an average of 66.33.
Skipper Leon Johnson is the highest runs scorer, with 230, followed by Raymon Reifer 189, Assad Fudadin 183, Rajendra Chandrika 107 and Anthony Bramble 105 – the other batsmen with more than a hundred runs.
Eight half-centuries have been scored to date, with Johnson scoring three, two apiece to Reifer and Fudadin while Chanderpaul scored the other.
Just recently an official from the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) hinted that careers could be on the line at the conclusion of the tournament.
With such performances Guyana needs fresher players now.
Drastic changes must be made now!