– Goal to play Test cricket for West Indies

By Sean Devers

In the recently concluded Regional U-19 tournament in St Vincent, Guyana’s much vaunted batting line-up, which included Mavindra Dindyal, Rampersaud Rampertab and Shamar Yearwood, struggled for consistency.

The Guyana team finished third in the three-day games and last in the 50-over format with Jamaica winning both.
However, Jonathon Rampersaud, who turns 20 in November, was one of the few Guyanese who impressed, finishing the One-Day tournament with the most runs for Guyana (101 with an average of 33.67 and a highest score of 58 not out while taking five wickets in the five games.

In the three-day format, Rampersaud captured the most wickets for Guyana (20) and scored 97 runs off seven innings. This was the second time he was playing in St Vincent as last year’s tournament was also held there.

Rampersaud explained why he thought he bowled well there, “I think the wickets there suited me; once you spin the ball you’re getting reward. I practised a lot on my bowling back at my club before the tournament and hence I am reaping success.

Last year, I didn’t have a great tournament with the bat. I think the reason is because I didn’t adapt to the conditions in St Vincent that well,” said Rampersaud who spends close to three hours every weekday practising at his club before doing strength work at home.

“After I failed with the bat last year, I came back to Guyana and worked very hard on my batting and fitness, hence it reaped success with the work I have put in.
The conditions in St Vincent were very hot and humid and there was a bit of rain in between while most of the pitches were good for batting,” said Rampersaud who has played for Guyana’s U-15s, Guyana U-19s and Upper Corentyne Franchise, as well as for a West Indies U-15 team.

The Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club’s left-handed batter and crafty off-spinner was born at the Woodlands Hospital in Georgetown on November 6, 2003 and is the only child of Charran and Rohanie Rampersaud.
“I grew up in Portuguese Quarter Port Mourant. As a youngster I love the game of cricket and would be enthusiastic for my father to take me whenever there are local matches playing around Berbice.
His mother never liked him playing cricket, she would be stressed that he was missing school to play cricket and advised him to focus on his academics. However, when he made the Guyana team, she saw the potential in him and supports his cricket career now.

“At a very young age my main goal was education and I attended the Ankerville Nursery School, Port Mourant Primary and JC Chandisingh Secondary,” said Rampersaud, who is currently a final year student of the University of Guyana Berbice Campus.

“Once completing my bachelor degree in Business Management, I would go on to complete my master degree,” said Rampersaud.
In 2020, J.C. Chandisingh Secondary School Student, Jonathan Rampersaud, wrote the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) in the middle of the COVID-19 Pandemic and secured nine Grade Ones and two Grade Twos.

“We played inter secondary school cricket and was fortunate to captain JC Chandisingh Secondary to three consecutive county-wide titles.

My cousin used to take me to Port Mourant Centre when I was about 5 years of age and taught me the game. I joined RHTYSC from a very young age. I went to RHTYSC and watched the bigger guys practising. I fell in love with the practice and started going every afternoon to practice,” added Rampersaud.

“When I was small, I used to go with my cousin to Port Mourant Centre and he would get a tennis racket and hit a flannel ball high in the air and I would catch it.
I started watching cricket on television at a small age and I would imagine that I was International off-spinner Sunil Narine bowling. I was then 12,” said Jonathon who grew up in a part of Guyana where the main sport is cricket and big crowds attend all levels of matches.

My first game I played was an under-17 match for Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club and got 3-17. I then moved on to a higher stage and played for the Rose Hall’s first division team at the age of 13,” disclosed Rampersaud.

Rampersaud’s biggest challenge came when he was representing Guyana in the 2018 Regional U-15 tournament in Jamaica and his father suffered a stroke.

“When I came home from the tour I was shocked to see my father had gotten a stroke. His left hand was paralyzed, leaving my mother as the sole breadwinner for the family. She usually vends in front of the Port Mourant Primary School,” Jonathon informed that his father is recovering and can do more things for himself now.”

“It suits my type of style and if the opportunity presents itself, I would be much grateful to expand my knowledge about the game by going to play overseas,” stated Rampersaud.
I enjoy both batting and bowling and played the first three-day Guyana Harpy Eagles 2022 practice match which helped to prepare me for the three-day format.

“My hobbies are playing cricket, reading books and watching documentaries. Having a sound education is very important to me because growing up in an average family, education would have always been my ultimate goal and doing well in academics can help you a lot to understand the fundamentals in cricket,” informed Rampersaud.