DEFENDING Regional 4-Day champs, Guyana Jaguars, have signalled their intentions early via their batsmen, who looked close to being in peak form following their ultra-aggressive approach when the season bowled off.

The Jags continued to stress on their batting agenda which was to score heavily and more consistently, following their successful pair of practice games during which they flexed their prowess with the bat.

After the likes of skipper Leon Johnson, openers Chandrapaul Hemraj and Tagenarine Chanderpaul and all-rounder Chris Barnwell, all showed good signs of things to come in the warm-up games.

The senior core maintained their purple-patch with the bat and cashed in during round 1 with a string of half-centuries which allowed them to rack up almost 400 runs batting first. Hemraj and Johnson both hit tons in the last practice game, while Chanderpaul warmed up with a gritty fifty.

Barnwell, who was the leading run scorer in the Super50, continued to score significantly as he ended the first game as the top-scorer with 82 from just 106 balls. Hemraj and Chanderpaul hit 52 and 60 respectively while Johnson made 59.

Outside of the half-centurions, star all-rounder of the Jaguars championship team, Raymon Reifer, made a brisk 47. A returning Devendra Bishoo, a renowned West Indies Test night-watchman, also flexed his duality as he too chipped in with a useful 40 while batting with the tail.

The sum of the fears held by the other franchises could be soon realized should the Jaguars main players continue to find their rhythm after looking ominous after just one round.
Barnwell, Johnson, Hemraj, Chanderpaul, and Reifer are the current in-form stars who will play themselves into further form as the round progresses. The Jags, however, will be keen to see more from Vishaul Singh and Anthony Bramble, two of the major run-getters for Guyana since their reign began back in 2013/14.

Bramble, Guyana’s main run-scorer over the past few seasons with over 1,000 First Class runs, missed out as he recorded a single run while the gritty Singh looked good for his 25 but would be eager to make up going forward.

In all, should Guyana be blessed with the services of their West Indies stars in Keemo Paul, Shimron Hetmyer, Romario Shepherd and Sherfane Rutherford at any point in the season, it is likely that Guyana could retain/win the title for a record 6th time solely due to their star-studded batting order. (Clifton Ross)