First-Class cricket requires cricketers to have optimum fitness especially when one takes into consideration that the players are required to travel to various Caribbean territories for matches with four days separating each game when the upcoming regional season commences in January.
And towards this end, national coach Rabindranauth Seeram and his coaching detail are using the first week of the one-month encampment for the 21-man training squad, to focus on fitness and endurance training.
Seeram, who is looking to change Guyana’s fortune after they finished in the cellar position earlier this year, said that former West Indies fast bowler Reon King and Police athletics coach and cricketer Lyndon Wilson, have rendered their assistance to the squad.
“We are trying to get them into shape; we (coaching staff and selectors) have employed Mr. Wilson, not on a full-time basis, and we have seen much more improvement in the physical state of the players,” Seeram reported.
When Stabroek Sport enquired whether the new selectees were cognisant of the task ahead and if they understood the depth of the work necessary for Guyana to regain some respectability at the Regional level Seeram answered in the affirmative.
The new players in the squad are pacers Trevor Benn, Keon Joseph and Andre Stoll, batsman Vishal Singh and wicketkeeper Anthony Bramble.
Seeram said that the players were aware of Guyana’s position over the past four years and were training hard.
He said that they have acknowledged that their places in the final 14-man squad will have to be merited and therefore, it was not over-emphasised that they should improve their physical capabilities.
On the other hand, the former national middle-order batsman, said that coaches were questioned on the possible reasons for the team’s poor performance.
“We had a meeting today with the cricket board officials and they are expecting more from the coaches and players because they (officials) realize that Guyana is producing less and less players of world-class quality and they wanted to know the reasons why,” Seeram said.
He revealed that issues such as inappropriate venues for training and the absence of remedial camps for the players to continue training after competitions were raised. He said he hopes that these factors can be realized so that the players can turn around their performances much more quickly. Seeram said that there was an undertaking by the GCB to implement some of these systems and pointed out that King will be working in his capacity as Cricket Development Officer (CDO) to ensure facilities are improved and said that the players will also benefit from some of the best players that would have played for Guyana.
Former WI off spinner Clyde Butts’s name was one of those mentioned by Seeram to assist the squad especially in the spin department.
The specialist spinners in the squad are Devendra Bishoo and Veerasammy Permaul and they were Guyana’s most successful bowlers in this year’s tournament.
“So basically rather than having one coach and a manager we have quite a few guys coming in to help so everyone is seeing the need to help Guyana’s cricket gets back to the top,” Seeram optimistically said adding that he was of the belief that the team needed a fitness trainer at all times.
