Cricketers gearing up for Senior Regional tourney

The national cricket team is set to start preparations for the upcoming Senior Regional Tournaments with two days of physical assessments starting Monday.

The squad of 15 players; 10 contracted and five more, who were selected at the inaugural players’ draft on Monday October 6 at the Accra Beach Hotel in Barbados, will be assessed on Monday and Tuesday from 8 am to 12 noon at the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) ground, Bourda, a report from Cricket Guyana Inc said.

The Guyana Franchise will open its campaign against the Leewards Franchise on November 14 at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.

The press release said that the two-day training activities will first focus on the physical fitness assessment and thereafter the players will enjoy two days of rest before starting cricket practice from October 24-26 prior to two four-day practice matches from October 27-30 and November 4-7, respectively.

Players are reminded that the selectors are authorised to choose players from outside of the selected franchise 15 should the need arise. As such, while as a general rule the selected Franchise 15 will be given selection priority, failure of a member or members of that select group to meet Players’ Appraisal acceptable standards, will render them ineligible for selection.

As such, all players requested for participation in these activities are expected to attend training with a view for selection during the 2014/2015 regional season. Those not in the select 15 who gain selection during the said season, shall fall into the category of “Pay for Play.”

Factors to be considered are Attendance, Activity Punctuality, Uniformity, Self-Analysis (strengths & weaknesses), contribution to player analysis (teammates and opponents), Individual and Teamwork Ethics, effective match applicable compliance with the WICB Code of Conduct for Players’ and Officials and the like.

The training squad would be put through their tests and training by Head Coach Esaun Crandon assisted by a technical team consisting of Albert Smith, Rayon Griffith, Michael Hyles and a GDF trainer, among others.

It must be noted, that Raymond Reifer, the only foreign player in the Guyana Franchise, will go through his physical fitness assessment on November 1 and 2 when he joins the squad.

The list of players required to attend the physical assessment are the first 10 contracted players; Veerasammy Permaul, Christopher Barnwell, Anthony Bramble, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Ronsford Beaton, Narsingh Deonarine, and Trevon Griffith. NB. Leon Johnson, Assad Fudadin and Devendra Bishoo are currently on assignment. The drafted players are Keon Joseph, Rajendra Chandrika, Paul Wintz, Vishaul Singh and Raymond Reifer. West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) contracted player Shivnarine Chanderpaul, and other players eligible for selection under “Play for Play” are Zaheer Mohamed, Raun Johnson, Anthony Adams, Chanderpaul Hemraj, Amir Khan, Shimron Hetmyer, Steven Jacobs, Kemo Paul, Kevon Boodie, Gudakesh Motie, Ricardo Adams, Jason Sinclair, Kemol Savory, Jonathan Foo, Royston Crandon, Raj Nanan, Kandasammy Surujnarine, and Rajiv Ivan.