– Roger Harper
By Marlon Munroe
Apart from preparing for the conditions in South Africa, the Guyana national cricket team should be looking to be consistent in the Airtel Champions League tournament next month, says former West Indies Coach Roger Harper.
Harper made these comments during the Guyana team’s first practice session at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence yesterday. He was conducting a session with some young cricketers from the East Bank.
The 47-year-old former West Indian off breaker believes that the coaching staff conditioning of the players should be holistic.
“Off the top of my head when you are preparing for a tournament in a foreign land one would think that they (players) would be prepared for the conditions that they may be faced with as well as the opposition they will encounter.
I think when you hear those big names and the fancy leagues they are playing in you tend to think that we should find it difficult to compete. But if we can reflect on Trinidad’s performance and if we play at our best I am sure we will be able to compete and win against those teams but we have to do our best and we have to be consistent,” Harper declared.
Trinidad & Tobago reached the final of last year’s tournament and lost in the final to Australia’s New South Wales Blues.
South Africa’s spring begins in September and ends in November. Day temperatures rise to an average of between 25 and 30 degrees Celsius. South Africa has a generally temperate climate, due in part to being surrounded by the Atlantic and Indian Oceans on three sides, by its location in the climatically milder southern hemisphere and due to the average elevation rising steadily towards the north (towards the equator) and further inland. Due to this varied topography and oceanic influence, a great variety of climatic zones exist.
According to Harper, the players should see their winning of the inaugural Caribbean Twenty20 Championships as a psychological boost. He pointed out that from his observation one of the strengths of the team is the confidence and enthusiasm shown by the young cricketers. Another fillip he noted with the team going into the lucrative tournament is its ground fielding.
Basing his judgement as an outsider looking on, he said notwithstanding these factors the players should still strive to “tighten their games in all departments.”
When Stabroek Sport spoke to senior player and opening batsman Travis Dowlin he indicated that while cricket is a game of many uncertainties the team’s main aim at the moment is to cover “all the bases before going into the tournament.”
Dowlin said that the team want to “hit the ground running in South Africa.”
With that objective, the 33-year-old believes that Guyana has a “fair chance (of winning) just like everybody else.” The big names that they will be playing against will not deter them from their task, Dowlin maintained.
The West Indies player said that while the batting needs shoring up it can hold its own but the side is lacking a ‘death bowler’. He stated that the team needs a bowler who will contain opposition batsmen in the dying overs of the game since these are the overs that can determine the outcome in a 20/20 game.
The fielding is sometimes suspect at periods and this is a department that needs improvement if the team is looking to restrict opposing teams. On the other hand, Dowlin emphasised that the commitment that the young players have shown throughout the tournament “augurs well for the future of Guyana’s cricket.”
He made reference to Jonathan Foo and Devendra Bishoo who helped the team when sometimes the senior batsmen fell short. “I hope they continue from strength to strength and they get the support of the other players in the team,” Dowlin said.
He noted also that every player has his role to play if Guyana is to be successful.
