IF there is any thought that interest in cricket here is on a steep decline, that perception might worth reconsideration, given the massive turnout by local fans to the Guyana leg of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) matches here last week.
It is without doubt that local cricket fans are far from satisfied with the performance of their team and would have expected that at least, with the advantage of playing at home, the Guyana Amazon Warriors would have performed better than they did in their earlier matches.

For Guyanese and still the majority of West Indians, cricket is still more than a game, and more at home, disappointment does not mean a loss of interest. There are still a lot of die-hard cricket fans–Amazon Warriors supporters to the bone–even though the team has put them through much stress and anger with a string of poor performances thus far in this year’s tournament.

As angry as knowledgeable fans would get, they would be a little sympathetic but not complacent with the team in the way things have gone down for them. Since the inauguration of the tournament in 2013, Guyana was able to do well largely because the team had a few world class starters and finishers in the batting department and spin maestro, Sunil Narine and ‘Slinger’ Lasith Malinga spearheading their bowling attack. It was a formidable team then, perhaps comparable to the best league teams in the world.
Now with no Tillakaratne Dilshan, James Franklin, Mohamed Hafeez, Sunil Narine and Lasith Malinga and clearly, lack of planning and inspiration at the management level of the team, a vulnerability in the Warriors’ armory has been exposed. In the 20/20 version or format of cricket, there is always a winner and loser and the results can go either way, but the way the Amazon Warriors have played so far seems as though they are trying hard to emulate or even better the West Indies when it comes to snatching defeat from the jaws of victory and being consistently inconsistent.

Their second match against the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots and their sixth match against the Jamaica Tallawahs in which they had to get only eight runs to win on both occasions, Guyana should have won these matches easily, given that their tailenders were not left to do the job. But much to their fans’ surprise, in the last over of both matches, their capable batters began playing like tailenders, throwing their bats, the proverbial kitchen sink and the swimming pool only to drown before reaching their target, when it was a matter of playing with a level head and focusing on effective strikes.
It was pathetic to watch when they do connect, it was either giving their opponent catching practice or playing as some would say, ‘bat up and ketck’ and when the ball was played flat on the ground, they were running like chickens with their heads cut off.
These dull and uninspiring exhibitions are far from anything of warrior material, but more of a display of captives or a group of men whose old Morris Oxford ran out of fuel in the middle of the Kalahari Desert.

But all is not lost. It was heartening to see the Warriors rose from their slumber to edge the Barbados Tridents in their last match at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, when it appeared that a repeat of the Jamaica Tallawahs and St Kitts and Nevis Patriots experiences were on the horizon.
Notwithstanding the disappointments, Guyanese fans still have much hope in their team and are giving them their full backing for the remaining three matches and hopefully they make the play off. Today, we hope the Amazon Warriors play as a more coordinated team and eclipse the St Lucia Star, before moving on to beat the Barbados Tridents again and tame the Jamaica Tallawahs in their final match. Guyana have to win the remaining matches to stay alive in the tournament and we hope that they see these matches as a tournament within a tournament.