Johnson wants players to go from strength to strength

Manager of the National cricket team Alvin Johnson yesterday urged the players involved in the ongoing training sessions to continue working hard on their fitness and move from strength to strength in time for next month’s Regional tournament.

Speaking to Stabroek Sports yesterday at the Chetram Singh Centre of Excellence indoor cricket facility located at La Bonne Intention (LBI) where the players continued their second day of fitness training, Johnson commended the initiative shown by the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) who managed to put together the camp at an early stage.

“The fact that we started early enables the coach to see the flaws and can quickly work on it,” he said.

Two members of the Guyana team going through their paces at the Chetram Singh Centre of Excellence indoor facility yesterday.
Two members of the Guyana team going through their paces at the Chetram Singh Centre of Excellence indoor facility yesterday.

The manager explained that at times camps are usually put together in a hurried manner leaving players and the technical team little time to work along, however he deemed the timing of this one was well anticipated and constructed.

Day two saw the players shifting venues from the lush green lawns of the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, to the newly constructed greenheart floor of the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall where they continued a significant amount of agility and core training by running 20 metre shuttles along with a series of their usual cardiovascular workouts.

Johnson said that the purpose of the camp was not to get fit, but rather  to afford the players the opportunity to maintain and improve their current fitness. He noted that despite not coming into the camp fully up to scratch, he was impressed by the players’ quick leap to physical form during the first day of camp.

Praises were also showered on in-form left-hander Leon Johnson. According to Johnson, the West Indies ‘A’ player’s form throughout the 2013 season as a “good sign”. He also threw his full weight and support behind former West Indies skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan lauding the experienced middle-order batsman’s commitment shown during the camp and said that he hopes that..“he will come to the party,” as he is a key element in the team.

Due to overnight rain a proposed 4K run was unfortunately called off but the manger reassured that once the weather does not interrupt today the run will be on. Day three continues today and possible training venues depends on the weather, it however is scheduled to commence at 9:00hrs.