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UNDOUBTEDLY, when it comes to cricket in the Capital City of Georgetown, Demerara Cricket Club (GCC), Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) and Malteenoes Sports Club (MSC), are the powerhouse teams, hence it’s not a surprise that the first two will do battle in another final today. With MSC, who were favoured to defeat Police Sports Club in the first round failing to do so, both GCC and DCC the defending champions and runners-up in the Georgetown Cricket Association/Queensway Open Cup competition, humiliated their opponents to set up a rematch today.
Speaking with Chronicle Sport yesterday, GCC skipper Leon Johnson said he is confident his team can defeat their opponents on their home ground today and in the process, repeat as champions, having defeated them last year at home to take the title.
“Going into tomorrow’s game, we are very confident. We have prepared well and have been talking about this for a while. It’s just a process. We won’t turn up and expect anything easy, as they are one of the better sides around along with us, and we are not expecting anything to be easy.
They are playing at home and we have seen how confident they can be when they play at home and if we wish to remain champions and successfully defend our championship, then we have to go out there and give of our best, last year we won at home and this year we are looking to do it away from home.”
Johnson said his side is a very balanced one with three seamers, two spinners and batsmen who can bowl and rein in their opponents’ scoring rate, while the batting has depth and experience, especially with the inclusion of discarded West Indies middle order batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan.
“The composition of our bowling is pretty good, but we have to bowl well to the likes of their batsmen at a smaller DCC ground. The batting goes a long way down as a couple of our bowlers are very handy with the bat, making the side a very composed one and definitely we will be looking to the win tomorrow.
“Shivnarine Chanderpaul is not available as he is not only in camp with the West Indies team, but has joined another club. But Sars (Sarwan) is around and he is a good quality player and an inspiration to the younger guys, not just at the club level, but internationally as well and certainly a good individual to have around,” added Johnson.
While Johnson is looking to spring another upset as he did last year when his century was better than DCC’s Gajanand Singh’s ton, his opposite number Christopher Barnwell is leaving no stone unturned in his quest to add another silverware to the club’s display cabinet.
“We know this will be a good game going up against GCC, who are the defending champions and have some good players, but we have been playing some good cricket for the past few years and we have a lot of match-winners in our team, who can be destructive on their day.
Added to that, we would be looking to get a good start from our new ball bowlers in Paul Wintz and Andre Stoll, with support from Totaram Bishun, Orlando Sturge, Gajanand Singh and myself while in the batting department, we are hoping that Travis Dowlin and Andrew Lyght Jr. give us a good start for the other batsmen to build on,” said Barnwell.
Both sides are evenly matched for today’s contest, which they earned the right to compete in, following their commanding semifinal victories over Guyana National Industrial Corporation and Everest Cricket Club respectively.
Barnwell has been in fine form for DCC, contributing handsomely with both bat and ball in their two victories that earned them the place in the final, while at the same time he placed himself in a good position to cart off the best all-rounder award.
For today’s encounter, GCC will be looking to Johnson, Sarwan, Robin Bacchus, Vishal and Gavin Singh (not related), Ellon Fernandes and Jeetendra Sookdeo, Gavin Charles to post a total that can be stoutly defended by their bowlers who will be led by Bacchus who had a four-wicket haul in the semifinals, Joshua Wade, Raj Nannan and to an extent, Sookdeo.
On the other hand, DCC who is presently celebrating their 100th anniversary will be looking to Dowlin, Lyght Jr., Barnwell, Gajanand Singh, Jamal Hinckson, Derwin Christian and Omesh Dhanram to aid their batting.
DCC bowling will hinge on the shoulders of Wintz and Stoll – who can also contribute with the bat – Barnwell, Bishun, Sturge and Dhanram, making today’s encounter a must-see for cricket-loving fans in Georgetown.
Speaking with Chronicle Sport yesterday, GCC skipper Leon Johnson said he is confident his team can defeat their opponents on their home ground today and in the process, repeat as champions, having defeated them last year at home to take the title.
“Going into tomorrow’s game, we are very confident. We have prepared well and have been talking about this for a while. It’s just a process. We won’t turn up and expect anything easy, as they are one of the better sides around along with us, and we are not expecting anything to be easy.
They are playing at home and we have seen how confident they can be when they play at home and if we wish to remain champions and successfully defend our championship, then we have to go out there and give of our best, last year we won at home and this year we are looking to do it away from home.”
Johnson said his side is a very balanced one with three seamers, two spinners and batsmen who can bowl and rein in their opponents’ scoring rate, while the batting has depth and experience, especially with the inclusion of discarded West Indies middle order batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan.
“The composition of our bowling is pretty good, but we have to bowl well to the likes of their batsmen at a smaller DCC ground. The batting goes a long way down as a couple of our bowlers are very handy with the bat, making the side a very composed one and definitely we will be looking to the win tomorrow.
“Shivnarine Chanderpaul is not available as he is not only in camp with the West Indies team, but has joined another club. But Sars (Sarwan) is around and he is a good quality player and an inspiration to the younger guys, not just at the club level, but internationally as well and certainly a good individual to have around,” added Johnson.
While Johnson is looking to spring another upset as he did last year when his century was better than DCC’s Gajanand Singh’s ton, his opposite number Christopher Barnwell is leaving no stone unturned in his quest to add another silverware to the club’s display cabinet.
“We know this will be a good game going up against GCC, who are the defending champions and have some good players, but we have been playing some good cricket for the past few years and we have a lot of match-winners in our team, who can be destructive on their day.
Added to that, we would be looking to get a good start from our new ball bowlers in Paul Wintz and Andre Stoll, with support from Totaram Bishun, Orlando Sturge, Gajanand Singh and myself while in the batting department, we are hoping that Travis Dowlin and Andrew Lyght Jr. give us a good start for the other batsmen to build on,” said Barnwell.
Both sides are evenly matched for today’s contest, which they earned the right to compete in, following their commanding semifinal victories over Guyana National Industrial Corporation and Everest Cricket Club respectively.
Barnwell has been in fine form for DCC, contributing handsomely with both bat and ball in their two victories that earned them the place in the final, while at the same time he placed himself in a good position to cart off the best all-rounder award.
For today’s encounter, GCC will be looking to Johnson, Sarwan, Robin Bacchus, Vishal and Gavin Singh (not related), Ellon Fernandes and Jeetendra Sookdeo, Gavin Charles to post a total that can be stoutly defended by their bowlers who will be led by Bacchus who had a four-wicket haul in the semifinals, Joshua Wade, Raj Nannan and to an extent, Sookdeo.
On the other hand, DCC who is presently celebrating their 100th anniversary will be looking to Dowlin, Lyght Jr., Barnwell, Gajanand Singh, Jamal Hinckson, Derwin Christian and Omesh Dhanram to aid their batting.
DCC bowling will hinge on the shoulders of Wintz and Stoll – who can also contribute with the bat – Barnwell, Bishun, Sturge and Dhanram, making today’s encounter a must-see for cricket-loving fans in Georgetown.
