Chairman of national cricket selectors Rayon Griffith yesterday praised the efforts of the Guyana team which staged a courageous fight-back against Jamaica in the first round of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Regional four-day match
at Sabina Park.
Griffith told Stabroek Sports yesterday that because of the absence of skipper Leon Johnson, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan who were ruled out of the first contest due to injury, the team was under pressure for the majority of the match but still managed to take the encounter into the fourth day Monday which he said was a credit to the players.
He highlighted middle-order batsman Vishal “Cheesy” Singh’s gritty knock of 73 in the second innings as one of maturity and fight.
“He came out and showed he has fight in him despite being out of the Guyana team for some time. He just needs to continue down the same road and continue making runs,” he said.
Griffith explained that the team was at a setback after the big three batters were ruled out of the first round but stated that the other players including the youngsters had the opportunity to “put their hands up.”
Spinner Amir Khan, Tagenarine Chanderpaul the son of Shivnarine and Chandrapaul Hemraj are the players designated to fill the spots left vacant by the senior players and Griffith said that he is
optimistic that the youngsters will step up to the task in the games to come.
From a bowling perspective the Guyanese showed more potency with the ball and were effective being able collect 10-wickets, bowling out the Jamaicans for 294 in their first innings as a result of their cohesive teamwork.
“The bowlers played their role and bowled really well especially (Veerasammy) Permaul,” said the former national player who credited the bowlers especially the left-arm spinner Permaul who was the pick of the bowlers snaring (5-76) in the first innings.
Guyana’s second game will be on home soil and Griffith explained that regardless of the loss to Jamaica he knows the players will not be heading into the match against the defending champs Barbados short of confidence.
“We have to continue playing good cricket and despite playing at home the guys still need to put their hands up and focus on this game,” Griffith declared.
The Guyana team arrived home last evening and will now seek to regroup ahead of Friday’s first day of action.
