Defending Regional first-class Champions Guyana Harpy Eagles (GHE) begins their quest for a 14th title and eighth in 10 seasons when they face Barbados Pride at the Providence Stadium from tomorrow to Saturday.

Barbados, the most successful First-Class team in this tournament with 24 titles, is the only team to win titles in the last nine seasons (2020 and 2022) of Guyana’s dominance.
“Yes, I am pleased with the preparation from the guys over the past two weeks from the practice matches into the training session which commenced on Monday.
We still have a few things to work on as we move forward but I think the guys are in a good space me mentally.

We have been working in training to be better in all aspects that we would have not been doing well in… batting, bowling and fielding.
I have great confidence in the batch of players and it’s not up to me to win a title but to help guide the players to do such…I have full belief in them to go out and give their very best” a confident head coach Ryan Hercules posited.
For the first round Guyana will be without Tevin Imlach, Gudakesh Motie and Kevin Sinclair who played their part in the West Indies’ second Test victory against Pakistan yesterday.

West Indies fast bowler Shamar Joesph is still not fully recovered from his injury will also miss tomorrow’s match.
Coach Hercules, a former Guyana youth pacer who represented Essequibo at the senior Inter-County level, confirmed that Joseph will be available for the matches, while saying the three Test players should return for the second-round game.
Guyana will play their first three matches at the Providence Stadium including a day/night game against West Indies Academy in the third round from February 12-15.

“Yes. It is an advantage for us but I am not getting too carried away I say to the players we need to play good all-round cricket home or away to be successful…accessing conditions daily and by session and playing the situation at hand would be vital for our success”
In addition to the Test trio, Guyana will also be without Hetmyer, Paul and Shepherd who are participating in T20 Leagues.

“Yes! we do miss our senior guys but I say to the players who get the opportunity to make the best of it and show the selectors why you were selected” the former pacer reasoned.
The 37-year-old Hercules, who played six years in England from 2009-2014 provided his views on 20-year-old fast bowling all-rounder Thaddeus Lovell, the lone player in the squad who never represented Guyana at the senior level.
“Young Lovell would have made an impression on myself and others. I think he has what it takes to be a good fast bowler.

He is disciplined and also coachable. I told him that making the team is easy to stay in the team is the hard part which I have no doubt in him …he is willing and ready to learn as much to improve his game…if giving the opportunity I would be looking forward to seeing him in action” informed Coach Hercules.