… We must play to our full potential, says Mangru

THE Guyana National female cricket team and management staff departed yesterday morning for Jamaica to compete in this year’s Cricket West Indies (CWI) Women’s Regional T20 and 50-over tournaments, scheduled for June 7 to 25.
Led by former West Indies player Shemaine Campbelle, the Guyanese will be hunting their first-ever regional women’s title.

However, for that to become a reality, coach Bharrat Mangru feels his players must play to their full potential in both tournaments.
Mangru, who is making his debut as a senior coach, told Chronicle Sport prior to the squad’s departure that while preparation was hampered somewhat by the weather, the players are confident of doing well, adding that the team would be going all out to win both titles.

“We must play to our full potential, and once that is done we can finish at the top. Yes, preparation was hampered by the weather. However, we were still able to use the national stadium for fielding, and we had some net sessions at Everest, so despite the inadequate preparation we are confident,” Mangru, a former coach of the West Indies Blind team reckoned.

Asked what he feels is the team’s strength, Mangru, the 47-year-old said “Obviously our strength is our bowling department. We have three players in that department with West Indies experience, and apart from that, the advantage we have this year is that the team has six players who have previous experience of conditions in Jamaica, so the experience is there”.

In conclusion, the coach declared that the team is a well-balanced unit, comprising a number of match-winners. Mangru feels it is the best chance for the Guyanese to win both tournaments.

The 14 players selected are: Shemaine Campbelle (captain), Sheneta Grimmond, Mandy Mangru, Shabika Gajnabi, Lashuna Toussaint, Melanie Henry, Tremayne Smartt, Cherry-Ann Fraser, Erva Giddings, Kaysia Shultz, Subrina Munroe, Akaze Thompson, Plaffiana Millington and Katana Mentore.

The standby players are: Hema Singh, Shenika Campbell, Latoya Smith, Dian Prahalad, Althea Newark and Casey Charles. The team manager is Carol Nurse.