By Rajiv Bisnauth
THE first of three practice matches for potential Guyana Jaguars players bowls off today at the renovated LBI facility from 09:00 hrs.
The game forms part of the Guyana Jaguars preparation ahead of next month’s Regional Super50 tournament, slated for Antigua and Barbuda from the 7th to the 27th.
Speaking of his expectations ahead of the three games, Head Coach Esaun Crandon is predicting an intense battle among the players.
“I am expecting three keenly contested games. I think, looking at the standard and output from the fitness assessment on Thursday last, we should expect high quality and intensity throughout the practice matches,” Crandon, the former Guyana fast bowler said.
With the cancellation of the Cricket Guyana Inc (CGI) Jaguars Franchise 50-over tournament last year due to the Novel Corona virus pandemic, the practice games will be crucial for each player, since individual performance will give them a chance of making the final 15-man touring party.
To this end, the 39-year-old Crandon is hoping for three full games, adding that turf preparation is vital ahead of any tournament.
“You know, three competitive games and hopefully we can get some good weather and preparation heading into the Super50,” he reckoned.
The long-serving head coach has presided over the Jaguars winning the West Indies Championship (first-class matches) for five consecutive seasons. But he has also watched the team come close and failed to cross the finish line in the Super50 Cup during the same period.
However, while the winning formula is yet to be discovered by the Jaguars, Crandon feels with the availability of most of the local top players, the results could be different this time around.
Guyana has not won the Super50 since Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s side bested Courtney Browne’s Barbados by seven runs under the Duckworth/Lewis method 15 years ago at the now decommissioned Bourda Oval. In 14 tournaments staged since then, they failed to reach the semi-final 11 times, lost at the semi-final three times and in the final thrice.
Meanwhile, with strict quarantine restrictions currently in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cricket West Indies (CWI) was forced to reduce the number of teams for this year’s tournament.
The 47th edition of the tournament will revert to only the six regional franchises taking part, which would mean that defending champions, the West Indies Emerging Players, along with Canada, USA and the Combined Colleges and Campuses would miss out.
This will mean the six leading franchises: Jamaica Scorpions, Trinidad and Tobago Red Force, Guyana Jaguars, Barbados Pride, Leeward Island Hurricanes, and the Windward Island Volcanoes are the only teams participating this year.
The reduction in the teams competing in the tournament also means a change to the tournament’s scheduling.
Last season, the teams were split into two groups; the fixture reduction now means that the tournament will be played over one round with each team playing five matches.
Shimron Hetmyer and Leon Johnson will lead the two sides during the practice games.
Romario Shepherd, who recovered from the COVID-19 virus, is expected to be added to one of these squads for the three practice matches. The squads for the practice matches are as follows.
Hetmyer’s team: Chandrapaul Hemraj, Raymond Perez, Kevlon Anderson, Sherfane Rutherford, Akshaya Persaud, Kemol Savory, Bhaskar Yadram, Kevin Sinclair, Demitri Cameron, Keon Joseph, Clinton Pestano, Anthony Adams, Vishaul Singh, Mavindra Dindyal, Steven Sankar, Sachin Singh and Ricardo Adams.
Johnson’s team: Trevon Griffith, Tevin Imlach, Jonathan Foo, Christopher Barnwell, Assad Fudadin, Anthony Bramble, Quinton Sampson, Gudakesh Motie, Ramaal Lewis, Nial Smith, Ronaldo Alimohamed, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Devendra Bishoo, Andre Stoll, Totaram Bishun, Richie Looknauth and Kelvin Umroa.
