From Calvin Roberts in Barbados
Compliments of: Ansa McAl, P&P Insurance, Hanes (Guyana) Limited and Cellular Planet (Official dealers in Digicel phones)
Guyana begins its defence of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB)/TCL sponsored Regional Under-19 cricket tournament against the Leeward Islands at the Kensington Oval ground today and coach Hubern Evans yesterday stated that he was looking for a winning start.
“I am looking to kick off the defence of this title on a winning note and this can only be accomplished with team work. Even though an individual performance does augur well for that player, it takes team work to get the job done,” the former Guyana middle-order batsman said.
“In this vain, I am looking to players such as Jonathan Foo, who scored the lone century in the trial, openers Trevon Griffith and Jeetendra Sookdeo, Royan Fredericks, captain Eugene La Fleur, Seon Hetymyer and all-rounder Dillon Heyliger to set a total, thus giving our bowlers the license to have a go at the opposition.”
The defending champions, who are seeking their third successive title following tournament victories in 2006 at home and 2007 in St. Kitts, will no doubt be buoyed by the announcement made at the opening ceremony by TCL’s Michelle Langton who stated that her company would be giving shares to the value of TT$1,000 to each player on the winning team in the three day and limited overs competitions.
While the news might be bright the conditions were a bit damp yesterday and a scheduled practice session yesterday morning at the Wanderers Cricket Club ground was severely hampered by overnight rain which left the outfield damp and in some cases under water thus preventing Evans from executing his pre-game exercise routine.
“We were all appalled this morning when we turned up at the ground to find the outfield and bowlers’ run up damp. Such conditions were not conducive for practice for a tournament of this calibre, but nevertheless, we still managed to do some work as we wanted the batsmen to get their eyes in as quickly as possible.”
“Our bowlers also did some work even though it was not extensive but I am confident that we can come away with a victory at the end of the third day in this one,” Evans stated.
Supporting the main crop of batsmen should be former national under-15 all rounder Royston Alkins and wicket keeper Anthony Bramble.
The bowling department will be served by fast bowlers Leon Scott, who is in his second year at this level, 17-year-old West Berbice 2007 senior cricketer of the year, Keon Joseph and Keyron Fraser.
Valuable support is expected to come from Heyliger and Hetymyer.
Always known to be strong in the spin department, this year’s Guyana team is no exception with the skipper La Fleur, who also bowls left arm orthodox, Totaram Bishun, and Herman Latcha to offer good support to the fast bowlers.
Alkins, Foo, Sookdeo, and Fredericks are all capable of lending support in this department.
Meanwhile, coach of the Leeward Islands team Winston Benjamin said he would be looking for a competitive score and would like to see his players go out there and play to the best of their abilities.
“I would like to see the guys go out there and play to the best of their ability. We will be looking for a competitive score which will give our bowlers a run at the Guyanese, but if we have to field first, we will be looking to reduce them to a small total or next to nothing.”
Quizzed on the strength of his team, the former West Indies all rounder told Stabroek Sport that his team was not a one man show, but rather strong as its’ weakest link.
“There is no need for me to single out any specific player/players for this encounter, but I rather say that we are as strong as our weakest link.”
Other matches on the opening day will see host Barbados opposing Windward Islands at the Three W’s Oval and Jamaica who ended as runners up to the Guyanese last year will take on Trinidad and Tobago at the Banks Brewery ground, in Wildey. All matches will commence at 10am.
