By Clifton Ross

LOCKDOWN has kept things quiet since March with cricketers being forced inside as a result of COVID-19, but the Guyana Jaguars’ daily training sessions have been a key part of keeping the 5-time Regional 4-Day champs fit during quarantine as they eagerly await their return to live sports.

The ‘double-edged sword’ immediately presented itself soon after the outbreak, leaving athletes in a tough position as it relates to how best to maintain their fitness and actual work while keeping their money-making bodies fit for a return.

Since things went left, Cricket Guyana Inc. (CGI) immediately introduced its virtual training arena. Players were then afforded a new avenue to stay in touch without breaking the social distancing rules and were also given a unique opportunity to still train and interact cricket-wise with teammates and coaches on a daily basis.

The daily sessions which included team physio Neil Barry Jr, who is currently on duty with the West Indies Test side in England, along with players and other members of the franchise’s coaching team, have been a crucial part of the former champs’ efforts to monitor players’ fitness, while keeping them match-ready and healthy.

Chronicle Sport caught up with a number of players in the Guyana Jaguars unit over the last 5 months, and interviews revealed one major thing in common, which was that the cricketers seemingly found the virtual training classes to be a crucial part of their makeshift means to keeping fit these days.

Feedback from players like captain Leon Johnson, seniors Chris Barnwell, Anthony Bramble, even youngsters in pacer Niall Smith, all-rounder Kevin Sinclair, batsman Akshaya Persaud and others told a story of dedication and eagerness to stay in playing shape together while keeping the team’s unity intact.

Although sessions are being done on Zoom, the real-time interaction among the players and coaches further helps to maintain the team’s overall performance level. Teammates are still able to chat and workout but from their personal spaces.

The Jags players as well as the academy players can now conduct their meetings or even train in the same family-like environment, similar to how things were months ago.

The virtual training meetings have now transformed physical gathering into a safer, still effective means of monitoring players’ fitness and dedication to their training during this forced downtime.

A plus for the coaches is that the sessions also provide a first-hand view of how players are coming along with regard to working on specific techniques or correcting errors they might have been tasked with perfecting.

The players have also relished this new means of training on a daily basis, as a number of them have admitted that the programme has been a key part of their own personal daily attempts to keep themselves in peak playing shape.

With isolated training being the new norm for athletes, those who have been used to conducting their own training regimes outside of the team, further believed that the daily sessions is a great way to keep those who may not be as motivated to self-training; to keep themselves in shape regardless.

When things return fully to normalcy, it will be interesting to see if the virtual training classroom is abolished or further embraced and becomes a future mainstay for the franchise’s training manual.