THERE is a consensus among professionals in sport that winning is a habit, just as losing can become one too.

It is early days, very early days, to have any notion that losing has become a habit for Guyana Harpy Eagles because since the inception of the Professional Cricket League (PCL) by Cricket West Indies (CWI) in 2014, the Eagles have won five Four-Day titles on the trot.

But if they don’t address some issues regarding their depth in batting and fast-bowling, future leaders, some players’ fitness, and proper training facilities, it might be difficult to return to the summit of red-ball cricket in the region.

It was until the 2020-21 season, which ended abruptly after eight rounds due to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, that Barbados Pride were awarded the title due to being the points leaders.
The championship returned this year, but only five rounds, and had close to a three-month break between the first two and final two rounds.

This season it was a sprint to the finish, and not even a 100m sprint, due to the shortened sense of the championship, as the fifth round matches had two full days of play in most cases due to the inclement weather.
In the race, Pride, this time were not awarded gold but won it fair and square with 76.2 points, while Leeward Islands Hurricanes (72.6 points) came second and the Eagles (61.8 points) third.

Trinidad and Tobago Red Force (54.2 points), Jamaica Scorpions (43.8 points), and Windward Volcanoes (26.8 points) rounded off the other spots.
In all fairness, it was one loss in the second round – an innings and 57-run defeat to Hurricanes – which truly pegged back the Eagles.

They would have themselves to blame for not pushing the match forward quicker against Scorpions and avoid the tame draw, which meant by then it was more improbable than impossible to win the title.
Holistically, the batting though patchy at some stages, answered the calls to spend time in the middle and get scores.

Apart from Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Vishaul Singh was the only other frontline batter to get a hundred. Gudakesh Motie, more recognised for his left-arm spin, which brought 17 wickets this season, got the other century for the team.

Chanderpaul ended with 439 runs at 73.16 with two centuries to be the second-highest scorer in the competition but was rewarded with only Test reserve spot and President’s XI selection as John Campbell retained his spot.
On the flip side, there were 11 half-centuries with Tevin Imlach and Chandrapul Hemraj each making three, and had centuries for the taking, but failed to convert after some soft dismissals.

Prior to the start of round three, Imlach had just two First-Class matches but had a season to remember with 215 runs in four innings at an average of 53.75 with three half-centuries in as many matches.
Imlach was rewarded with President’s XI selection.

Captain Leon Johnson and Anthony Bramble – who was injured for the final two rounds – had their moments of strong showing with the bat but must reflect and want much more given their wealth of experience.
Opportunities were presented to some young players, such as the talented Akshaya Persaud, who only got 24 runs in four innings.

Four innings, certainly not by any means a large sample size to discard a player, certainly not one with Persaud’s ability, but one would have expected the gifted player to seize at least one opportunity to show commitment that Guyana’s batting stocks are good enough and the future is in good hands.

It means other talents like Kevlon Anderson, Matthew Nandu, Mavindra Dindyal need to now ‘knock down the door’ for selection in the domestic tournaments. Having talent is one thing but one must be able also to produce performances that warrant selection.From the overall bowling standpoint, the Eagles soared as usual, as Keemo Paul (20 wickets) and Veerasammy Permaul (19 wickets) finished behind Rahkeem Cornwall (23 wickets).

Outside of Motie’s 17, Nial Smith, who missed one round due to injury, was next best with seven wickets on some unhelpful tracks. This glorifies the impact Paul had in his comeback season which has already led to a West Indies recall.

But given Motie’s Test call-up, Paul’s return, and Romario Shepherd’s checkered availability due to West Indies commitments, the Eagles will have to look elsewhere for genuine wicket-taking options.
That will be big on the agenda of the team management when the new season restarts later this year, and it is expected to be back to ten rounds.

Demetri Cameron and Kevin Sinclair showed promise but they are far from the finished and potent products needed to be consistently successful.
More so, Paul, who is vice-captain, now back in the West Indies mix, and potentially unavailable more often than not, leaves the door for another vice-captain.

With the season moving back to ten rounds, it should play back into the Eagles’ hands given the little drastic team changes they make throughout the season, which make them a more compact unit to challenge for the title.