West Indies middle order batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul along with openers Sewnarine Chattergoon and Krishna Arjune have all been included in a 13-man squad that will represent Guyana against the Combined Colleges and Campuses (CCC) in the fifth round of the 2008 Regional Carib Beer series match at the National Stadium, Providence, from Friday.
After the team had played and lost all three of their first round matches away from home, the senior selectors met and made some changes in the hope of improving their chances beginning with this match against the CCC who endured mixed fortunes in their last two games that divided the break for the Stanford 20/20 tournament.
Chanderpaul is expected to bolster the middle order that looked brittle when captain Ramnaresh Sarwan who has been making some valiant attempts to bolster it is not at the wicket.
In their six innings away from home, the Guyanese managed to score over 200 three times and hit the 300 mark and above once, albeit in a losing cause in the first innings of their first game against Trinidad and Tobago.
In that innings, Chattergoon struck the first century of this year’s tournament before being called up for limited overs duties with the West Indies one-day team in South Africa. His departure, although being the best for him as he turned in some creditable performances for the regional side left a vacuum in a side that departed these shores with only one opener, leaving Travis Dowlin to perform the duties of opener.
With the recall of Arjune, Dowlin will revert to his original position in the middle order alongside Chanderpaul and Sarwan.
Along with these three are Leon Johnson and Assad Fudadin who will all be looking for some improved performances in the middle, while there is no room for opener Royston Crandon and Gajanand Singh who is considered the best young batsman in the country.
Narsingh Deonarine is overseas seeking treatment for his ailing back.
There still is no Mahendra Nagamootoo or Neil Mc Garrell in the bowling lineup and with the migration of Jeremy Gordon, the bowling department will have to make do with the services of Esaun Crandon, Trevon Garraway and Brandon Bess.
Although the signs are not there, Crandon surely must be tired from the cricket he has been playing dating back to the KFC Cup last year as his sting that is normally evident during his opening spell was lacking in the first three games.
The lively Bess was lacking in control along with a no ball problem in his game against Trinidad where he had combined figures of 21-4-115-1 in his first outing for Guyana at this level.
The performances of the bowlers prompted Sarwan to call for the services of former West Indies fast bowlers Reon King and Colin Stuart to assist with some coaching in the bowling department, a call that was heard and answered by the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB).
Over the past week, King has been taking the players through their paces imparting some of his knowledge to the bowlers, so an improved performance from the bowling department can be expected.
Garraway enjoyed a successful return to regional cricket for Guyana with figures of 4-45 and 1-14 against Jamaica while young Veerasammy Permaul who recently returned home with the West Indies Under-19 squad from Malaysia where they won the Plate would be hoping for an improved performance also.
The wicket-keeping department is in the safe hands of Derwin Christian and one would hope that he puts the last-over debacle against Jamaica in the Stanford twenty20 semi-final behind his back and gets his mind geared to four days of hard cricket as the home team seeks to chalk up its first win in this year’s competition.
The 13-man squad reads: Ramnaresh Sarwan (captain), Sewnarine Chattergoon, Krishna Arjune, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Travis Dowlin, Leon Johnson, Assad Fudadin, Darwin Christian, Zaheer Mohammed, Veerasammy Permaul, Esaun Crandon, Trevon Garraway and Brandon Bess.
