DEFENDING Champions Guyana Harpy Eagles head into Sunday’s game against the West Indies Academy looking to remain unbeaten as they set their sights on the final of the West Indies Regional First-Class tournament.
Guyana made two changes to the team that played the Windward Islands in three games in the bilateral series.
Under-19 World Cup player Jonathan Van Lange replaces Raymond Pereez, while Isaiah Thorne is replaced by Thaddius Lovell.
West Indies pacer Shamar Joseph will join the squad for the final against the winner of the Barbados v Trinidad & Tobago matchup.
Cricket pundits feel this game could have been against a President’s XI, made up of the best 12 players from Jamaica, the Leeward, and Windward Islands.
This would have given the selectors another opportunity to witness the performances of the players before selecting the Test team to face Sri Lanka in two Tests to be played in Antigua.
It is also felt that instead of three ‘bilateral’ series, the teams could have played each other in Antigua in a round-robin format. The team with the highest points would be crowned champions.
There are five grounds in Antigua capable of hosting matches at this level, including the two venues which have hosted Test matches.
The CWI says the reduction in matches resulted from a ‘lack of funding’ but this format does not indicate the true ability of the players as opposed to performing against different teams.
Back in the days, when West Indies were dominant, more cricket was played in the most competitive domestic tournaments in the world, barring county cricket in England.
WIPA had said regional cricket must only be played on the international grounds.
However, in the past, our best cricketers competed at several grounds in Guyana, Trinidad, Jamacia and Barbados and played before packed crowds.
This was because the product was good and there were many crowd-pullers in every team.
If Guyana wins its 14th first-class title since Rohan Kanhai led them to the first one in 1973, it will be a feather in the GCB’s cap (and rightly so) but look at the big picture.
Is this tournament preparing players to win Test series, especially against India, Australia, England and South Africa?
Let’s look at the most successful first-class team in the last decade.
Guyana has won eight of the last nine tournaments, but when the selectors sit to pick the Test team, only two Guyanese will be automatic picks, Gudakesh Motie and Shamar Joseph.
Tagenarine Chanderpaul is Guyana’s leading run scorer, with 308 runs, including an unbeaten 117 and a couple of fifties, but he has faced 988 balls for those runs.
He has four more innings to bat to improve his aggregate, but needs to demonstrate more intent and work on gap finding, since at the Test level, even if he bats the same number of balls, he will score half of those runs or less.
He is competing with Jamaican openers Kirk McKenzie, who has two centuries, John Campbell, one of 12 batters to score 14 tons, and Brandon King, who scored 63 in his only game but got twin fifties in his last Test against New Zealand last December.
Tevin Imlach is the best gloveman in the West Indies, but his 82 has been his only ‘score’ as his runs are not a true indicator of his talent.
Joshua DaSilva scored a double century and a fifty in his 318 runs, while Jamal Hamilton scored a century and a fifty in his 259 runs.
However, Imlach, who has captained Guyana to three consecutive titles, still has two more chances to impress with the bat. DaSilva could be selected as a batter, and Imlach as the keeper.
Kevlon Anderson and Matthew Nandu failed to do justice to their talent.
When Guyana scored 491 to beat the Windwards by an innings and 141 runs, three batters got fifties, but none scored a century.
Three got into the 40s and got out while Nail Smith batted well for his 37 and Chanderpaul laboured 196 balls for 35, but none of them were able to convert their 40s and 30s into big half-centuries.
Winning titles is commendable, but outstanding performances get you picked for the higher level.
The 23-year-old Barbadian Kevin Wickham scored hundreds in both innings against Jamaica before scoring a third in the next match to be the tournament’s leading run scorer with 371 runs.
However, all of his tons were against the same team. If he could replicate those performances against T&T, he could vie for a spot in the Test team.
One must not forget that Mikyle Louis was 23 when he made twin tons against Guyana in 2024.
He had three centuries that season and was selected for the Test side. But after 10 Tests and failures in his last two series against Pakistan and South Africa, he was dropped.
This season, the 25-year-old Antiguan managed just 109 runs in three matches despite scoring 73.
The two Josephs, Jayden Seales (13) and Anderson Phillip (17), seem certain picks as well as Motie, who captured the most wickets (24).
Roston Chase should also be selected and could provide spin support for Motie.
Kavem Hodge made a century in his last Test against New Zealand, while Shai Hope is back after missing this tournament due to rest.
My Test 14:
Brandon King, Kirk McKenzie, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Shai Hope, Kavem Hodge, Kevin Wickham, Joshua DaSilva, Tevin Imlach, Royston Chase, Gudakesh Motie, Shamar Joseph, Alazari Joseph, Jayden Seales, Anderson Phillip.
