… says finalisation on Academy Contracts set for June month-end

By Clifton Ross

CRICKET Guyana Inc. (CGI) executive Anand Sanasie is pleased with the Guyana Jaguars players, who were contracted following Monday’s draft, He pledged full support towards the continued welfare and development of all its players during these dark times.

Sanasie told Chronicle Sport, during an exclusive interview following the 2020 Cricket West Indies (CWI) Professional Cricket League (PCL) that he was confident that the updated Guyana Jaguars roster will do well this season, adding that the local Jaguars Academy players’ futures were also in good hands.

Cricket has suffered a number of afflictions over the past few weeks with COVID-19 pandemic having its way with sports in general worldwide. As a result of no live action for almost four months, a number of international and regional tours/tournaments were either abandoned during or prior to the start; or postponed indefinitely.

Although West Indies and England will be ‘taking one for the team’, after having decided to do battle amidst the ongoing pandemic in their UK series which bowls off a few weeks from now, the Regional cricket scene seems a bit more quiet with regard to this year’s start to the 2020/21 Regional Super50 and 4-Day tournaments.
While the Regional season is currently on COVID-19 watch, Sanasie believed that the Jags’ 15 contracted players have warranted their selection and he’s strong on the combination of the young guns and the senior bunch further gelling together as they go forward in hopes of this year’s season being played.
“We have a nice team with a mixture of experience and youth which is good. We (CGI) will continue to provide for the next generation of our cricketers and also try to help them with their smooth career transitions,” said the CGI executive.
Guyana Jaguars, arguably the best 4-Day team in recent history, having won 5 titles in a row are constantly churning out new talents for the West Indies international teams. When not manufacturing international stars, Jaguars maintain their position as a star-studded monster in regional cricket, with a number of past, present and future Windies players in the mix.
Regarding this year’s 15-man squad, Sanasie, a CWI director, said all contracts were rightfully awarded to those deserving of such a career-altering move, while adding that players were also rewarded for their performances in last season’s 50 Overs and 4-Day.
“I think the team we picked is good enough for the requirements needed in the PCL 50-over and 4-Day tournaments. We stayed with our two overseas players (Raymon Reifer and Ramaal Lewis) because they are proven performers. We also thought that we had invested enough in them and the potential is there for them to further significantly contribute to our programme and beyond,” Sanasie explained.

While September is on the cards as the possible time for cricket to return locally and some sort of team-training and scrimmages to be conducted, Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Secretary confirmed that the LBI Training Complex, which is currently being modified; will be the home of the Jaguars’ training when things get back to normalcy.
“As soon as we are able to fully restart our team-training, the players will train at the LBI Complex. Until then they will continue their daily ZOOM session with our physio Neil Barry Jr and we have also issued personal programmes to each of the cricketers to further assist them during these times,” he said.

Lastly, the CGI boss spoke on the future of the local Jaguars Academy players and their contracts for the new year, adding that CGI’s main goal is to ensure its players are properly protected in every aspect and, as such, the youngsters will still be looked after; even during a time when CWI has cut funding by 50%.

July 1 is usually when newbies or current academy players are briefed on their future as it pertains to their roles among other aspects of their budding careers.
Sanasie closed by confirming that CGI were in the process of discussing these current contracts and possibilities of newer ones if any, with the final decisions being made by the end of June.