The Essequibo Cricket Board has selected a 14-man squad that will contest the upcoming Senior Inter-County 20/20 competition scheduled to begin on Saturday at the National Stadium, Providence.
The team will be lead by fast bowler Trevon Garraway and includes two newcomers in former national under-15 player Oyono Sampson and Police fast bowling all rounder Kevin Gordon, along with the veterans Dinesh Joseph, Ramesh Narine who represented Guyana against Trinidad in the Cheddi Jagan Memorial 20/20 match at the National Stadium recently and Zakie Salim.
Also chosen is Patrick Rooplall who got a five-wicket haul against Demerara in the El Dorado limited over Inter-County competition last year, left arm orthodox bowler Robert Moore who was unceremoniously dropped from the team for its final Inter-County match against Essequibo despite a creditable bowling performance against Demerara in the first one.
Notable absentees from the team are former national fast bowler Rayon Thomas, who to the selectors has not been as effective as a fast bowler over the past two years, Ryan Hercules who is now campaigning in Trinidad and the Fredericks brothers Norwayne, who is not available, and Ryan.
Speaking with Stabroek Sport, chairman of selectors Vibert Johnson highlighted that the squad selected is a blend of youth and experience as the revamping of Essequibo’s cricket begins.
“There are some systems that we are preambling with at the present moment when it comes to the revamping of our cricket to make it more competitive with the other counties. Hence the selection of this squad that has a mixture of youth and experience.”
“We competed well with the other two counties in this version of the game last year. Against Berbice we threw that game away with the dropping of Imran Khan at a crucial point of the game. Although we were outplayed by Demerara, I still think that we offered resistance in the competition. This squad can hold its own and provide worthy resistance on the day of reckoning,” Johnson further stated.
The 14 man squad reads: Trevon Garraway (captain), Yogeshwar Lall, Dinesh Joseph, Oyono Sampson, Wayne Osborne, Ramesh Narine, Dillon Heyliger, Patrick Rooplall, Zakie Salim, Rakesh Goberdhan, Robert Moore, Latchman Rohit, Trevor Benn and Kevin Gordon. Moses Ramnarine (manager) and Forbes Daniels (coach).
Essequibo will play their first game against Demerara at 090:00h on Saturday and then take on Berbice on Sunday at the same venue and time.
