Century stand with Shiv a dream come true for Griffith

National opener Trevon “Bugsy” Griffith said that scoring his first regional ODI half-century along with sharing a century opening partnership with the legendary Shivnarine Chanderpaul was a dream come true for him as a young cricketer.

The 22-year-old, who spoke to Stabroek Sports from Trinidad and Tobago via social media stated that he was elated over the fact that he was able to contribute and play an essential part in Guyana’s 114-run trouncing of Ireland in the first match of the NAGICO Super50 tournament currently underway in Trinidad and Tobago.

“Scoring a half-century was a really good way to start off the tournament. I played every ball the way it should have been played,” said the left-hander who hit a composed 62 off 121 balls with five fours and one six during his knock in which he shared an opening stand of 129 along with Chanderpaul.

It was the youngster’s second regional half century following his innings of 55 against the Windward Islands in last year’s Regional Four-Day competition.

However, the aggressive young opener failed to produce a substantial innings in the second game against the Windward Islands and was dismissed for a duck. He explained the reason for his early dismissal by saying, “the second knock I received a pretty good ball which left me, I think that I could have played it better from looking back at the clip.”

Trevon Griffith
Trevon Griffith

Griffith said that sticking to the basics was what really helped him to score initially in the first game. Talking about the pitches and the way they played, the left-hander said: “The first pitch wasn’t bad for batting, as a batsman you have to be patient because the pitch was conducive for big stroke play,” he said.

“Unlike the first pitch, the second had more grass so as a batter you had to be able to bat through the first 20 overs without losing your wicket.”

Giving an insight into the downfall of the Windward batters, he continued by saying “Eventually the pitch got better for batting in the night but they (Windwards) didn’t show that as they crumbled.”

The prolific batsman lauded Chanderpaul’s experience and guidance which aided him during the pair’s century stand in the first game. “Opening with Shiv was a really good feeling on the whole, to add to that he really helped me to go along during the innings which is fantastic for any young player,” said Griffith.

He followed up by describing the century stand with the veteran West Indies batsman as “Nothing short of a wonderful feeling.” “Bugsy,” as he is popularly called, stated that he is confident and raring to perform in the upcoming games adding that the mood in the camp is very upbeat.

“Well I’m feeling pretty confident about performing in the games to come. While the mood in the camp is really good, we are still focused as a team and taking nothing for granted because we are in the semi-finals,” He said confidently.

Griffith also wants his fans at home to expect nothing but confidence and bravery from him during the rest of the tournament, and he expressed optimism about his country ending their campaign on a high note.

Guyana take on Jamaica today in the last match of the Group ‘A’ fixture.

GUYANA: Christopher Barnwell (captain), Shiv Chanderpaul (vice-captain), Anthony Bramble (wicket-keeper), Robin Bacchus, Trevon Griffith, Leon Johnson, Narsingh Deonarine, Royston Crandon, Assad Fudadin, Devendra Bishoo, Veerasammy Permaul, Ronsford Beaton, Paul Wintz, Ramnaresh Sarwan; Esaun Crandon (coach).

JAMAICA: David Bernard Jr (captain), Nikita Miller (vice-captain), Andre Russell, Carlton Baugh Jr (wicket-keeper), Tamar Lambert, Andrew Richardson, Horace Miller, John-Ross Campbell, Jermaine Blackwood, Andre McCarthy, Sheldon Cottrell, Jerome Taylor, Nkrumah Bonner, Kenar Lewis; Junior Bennett (coach).