– says Ashmead ready to face challenges

By Clifton Ross

FORMER Guyana off-spinner and National youth coach, Garvin Nedd, believes son Ashmead Nedd starting his senior career this upcoming West Indies Regional 4-Day season with the Leeward Hurricanes is a good move for him in the future.

Nedd, also called ‘Tibsy’ around the local fraternity, who played for Guyana from 1995-2000 as one of their main spinners, said recently that he was proud of his son’s latest achievements, following his success on the Regional and international scenes in 2019.

The 19-year-old  slow left-arm orthodox spinner had been tipped as one of the future slow-bowling options for Guyana from a young age. However, his talents overflowed over the last two years as he etched his name in the history books by playing a leading role in helping his team, the West Indies Emerging Players (WIEP), win the Regional Super50 title last year; it was WIEP’s first outing as a team.

Nedd had already been a member of the West Indies U-19 team and was also a part of their team’s near successful U-19 World Cup campaign a few months ago.

Now with his new calling for the upcoming season with the Hurricanes, father Garvin expressed to Chronicle Sport that his son’s success was warranted but still expects much from him when he returns to action.

“I think for the past 12 months he’s (Ashmead) been doing pretty well, so he deserves to be in a 4-Day set up. He’s had creditable performances since the Regional U-19 tournament, with the Windies U-19 team as well as the Emerging Players and then in the World Cup.

That itself would have provided that opportunity for him to be selected for the Hurricanes”, said the former national U-17 head coach.

Speaking on the current situation, Nedd stated that it was important to recognise what are the requirements for being a professional at this point, with regards to Ashmead’s career. He noted that while the hurdles ahead will see an increase in difficulty, the former Guyana U-17 spinner is one who relishes tackling challenges head on and is likely to impact his new franchise.

Although most of Guyana’s players transition through the ranks and make it to the Jaguars franchise, a handful are lucky enough to be drafted to another country and forced to adapt to their new team and culture.

Looking at the next year away from home as a part of the Leewards franchise, the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) coach said Ashmead’s new journey will be great for his career, especially with him playing most of his senior cricket on the road.

“I think it’s a good move for him because we all know that Veerasammy Permaul is a veteran and he’s currently playing a good role for our national team. We also have young Gudakesh Motie in the wings, so I knew before that it would have been difficult for Ashmead to break into the Jaguars team”, added the coach.

He continued, “Also we don’t have a rotation system here in Guyana which allows players to have that steady opportunity but, thus far, I’m happy for him. I want to compliment the various persons who would have played a role in his success, whether it was coaches or players”. He said.

One specific aspect to Ashmead’s development, outside of the WI youth setup, was his time in the training squad with the Guyana Amazon Warriors last year for the 2019 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

This year’s tournament is set to bowl off next month and while things are still on Covid-19 watch, it is likely that the competition will play but under strict Covid-19 regulations.

Hailing the local franchise for allowing young cricketers to have a taste of international cricket and learning from the overseas stars, Nedd thanked the Warriors for further keeping his son close to their structure for yet another year while wishing them well this season.

“I want to say a special thanks to the Amazon Warriors who saw it to have him in the training squad last year. He really beniftted from that stint because as soon as he returned, his work improved and it was evident soon after when he hit the World Cup and showed up; so I thank the franchise”.

“Although he was not selected for the Amazon Warriors officially to be a part of the team, they would have still had him around because he’s no stranger to the franchise now. I also want to wish the team well and the best of safe health and hope they can come out successful in this year’s CPL.

Meanwhile, Ashmead is set to create more history as he joins father Garvin as the only other father/son pair to play 1st Class cricket, outside of Shivnarine and Tagenarine Chanderpaul.