VEERASAMMY Permaul is the lone Guyanese bowler to reach 500 regional wickets and is now just eight wickets short of surpassing Jamaican, Nikita Miller, who has 511 regional wickets.

The 33-year-old, who made maiden his first-class debut in January 2004, has taken 574 wickets, 504 of which have been for Guyana.

Among the list of accomplishments for the left-arm spinner was his successful partnership with leg-spinner and Albion teammate, Devendra Bishoo.

“I always enjoyed bowling with Bishoo and we enjoyed playing together. We started at the Albion playing club cricket together and eventually, we played for Guyana together. We grew up together and it was a privilege to play with him. I contained one end and he attacked at the other end, and we formed a fantastic partnership,” he stated in an interview with Cricket West Indies media.

The magic moment came when he took the wicket of Keon Harding of Barbados Pride on the third day of the West Indies Championship contest at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.

Permaul dedicated the performance to his parents, who, he said, sacrificed a lot to help with his development and progress in the game.

A beaming Permaul was understandably elated with his accomplishment and spoke proudly. He started as a 17-year-old against the Windward Islands way back in January 2007 at the Tanteen Recreational Ground in the Carib Beer Series. He took four wickets in a marathon 34 overs – early signals of his consistency and accuracy.

“I remember that first match against the Windwards and how excited I was to play for Guyana. It was more than a dream come true, it was everything to me, to represent my country in ‘big man’ cricket,” Permaul said. “To now reach 500 wickets … was not really a goal but I’m happy to reach it. I remember my first wicket, Devon Smith, with the second ball of my career, and obviously, the 500th was Harding, so I’m looking to add more to my tally.”

Overall, Permaul is in his 130th first-class match. He has taken 574 wickets and bowled close to 30,000 balls – an amazing work rate.

On Saturday last he ended with 2-28 to have six wickets in the match as the Guyanese defeated the Bajans.

“I love four-day cricket; it is a test for all aspects of the game. We always stress in our meetings that the most important part of the game is patience, whether you’re a batsman or a bowler,” Permaul said.

“The goal is to see Guyana retain the four-day title. I started when we were being beaten a lot. Then we won five years straight and that was a great feeling.”