THE national junior selection panel, led by Michael Franco-Hyles, has entrusted the captaincy of the Demerara Under-15 team to compete in this year’s Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Inter-county Under-15 tournament to pugnacious opener Brian Sattaur. The Lusignan Sports Club right-handed batsman will have as his deputy, Malteenoes Sports Club’s Under-15 skipper and leg-spinner Steven Sankar while also included in the 14-man squad is dependable left-handed middle order batsman Tagenarine Chanderpaul.
The 15-year-old Chanderpaul is the son of West Indies middle order batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul and with the GCB’s fixtures showing Demerara playing their first game against Essequibo on June 2 and 3 and their final game against the defending champions Berbice on June 7 and 8, it is left to see if the younger Chanderpaul would don his whites for the Demerarians.
Such speculation arose since his father who has so far played 129 Test matches for the West Indies where he has scored 9 063 runs at an average of 48.98 with 22 centuries, asked Tagenarine to stop playing cricket during school hours.
Such a decision was made while Tagenarine, who is ambidextrous with his throwing, but bats left-handed like his father, was in a rich vein of form with the bat, as he scored four consecutive centuries for the Gandhi Youth Organisation in the Georgetown Cricket Association’s Brain Street Under-15 tournament.
Other members of the team are wicketkeeper/batsman Khemraj Rupee, the talented Sherfane Rutherford, Michael Shalim who bowls a tidy medium pace and Daniel Baker.
Meanwhile, the competition, which is played over a period of two days with all matches being played at the Guyana National Stadium, gets under way on Monday with defending champions Berbice opposing Essequibo.
The second round will pit Demerara and Essequibo on June 2 and 3 before Berbice face Demerara on June 7 and 8, following which the national team to represent Guyana in the West Indies Cricket Board Under-15 tournament to be held in Trinidad and Tobago, will be selected.
The Demerara team reads: Shivendra Hemraj, Sunil Singh, Steven Sankar (vice-captain), Khemraj Rupee, Akshaya Persaud, Sherfane Rutherford, Brian Sattaur (captain), Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Avinash Dhaniram, Michael Shalim, Daniel Baker, Omar Persaud, Kevin Paul and Cornelius Dhaneshrie.
Stand-by: Bhimsarup Shewmangal, Camroul Huckumchand, Divendra Bisham and Rickey Dabidyal. (Calvin Roberts)