Guyana Jaguars lone fast-bowler Ronsford Beaton believes that his recent form with the ball can stand him in good stead during the first-round of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) inaugural Franchise 4-day tournament which begins this Friday at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.
Beaton, who recently returned from Sri Lanka where the West Indies ‘A’ team wrapped up their unofficial Test and ODI series against the Asian side, said that despite playing one game in the ODI format which was abandoned due to rain, he is still upbeat about his good patch with the ball and indicated that he will be looking to start off on a good note come this Friday when the Jaguars clash with Leewards in the first of three home matches played here in Guyana.
“Well I only played one game in Sri Lanka but I’ve been bowling pretty decent, getting the ball to move with pace and control, I think I’m in good bowling form and I’m looking for lots of wickets and winning games for Guyana this season.”
The local franchise, Cricket Guyana Inc. (CGI), who recently named their 13-man squad headed by Test player Leon Johnson and vice-captain in Beaton’s fellow West Indies ‘A’ teammate Assad Fudadin, boasts an exerienced batting cog the likes of Narsingh Deonarine, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Christopher Barnwell, Trevon Griffith, Rajendra Chandrika, Vishaul Singh and Barbadian Raymon Reifer but with limited fire-power in the bowling department.
Not deterred by the lack of speed in the team, a confident Beaton stated: “I am confident of my role in the team and I’m confident that I will be getting wickets.
As the only fast bowler in the side I don’t want to put myself under pressure the team has a lot of experienced guys so I’m planning to learn as much as I can from them”.
The 22-year-old Montserrat-born speedster, who participated in the Jaguars’ training camp before winging out to Sri Lanka, lauded his teammates for the hunger and form exhibited during the camp, citing the overall performances as better than that of last season.
“This year’s preparation was better.
I was in the fitness camp earlier and the guys were better than last guys they were fitter and we are in a better position to give good accounts of ourselves during this year’s tournament. We also have Shiv (Chanderpaul) for a few games so the guys can bat around him while Reifer is a good add to the team. He is a good middle-order batsman who can bowl seam,” Beaton pointed out.
Speaking about the batting enigma known as Chanderpaul and the experience he brings to the side, the Amazon Warriors player pointed out that… “being around Shiv is a great opportunity. He is one of the best in the Caribbean. He gives support to everyone despite being a batsman. He can tell you certain things about bowling so Shiv in the team now will create an advantage for us which is very good.”
The former West Indies Under-19 bowler who has 28 first-class wickets under his belt from 17 games concluded his interview on a personal note as he shared his views on what the Jaguars’ needed to do in order to have a successfully outing during the four-day leg of the tournament.
“Personally I think picking up wickets is a good for me and the team. I think the guys need to bat better. There are a lot of experienced guys who will need to put their hands up and score big hundreds and that will give us the fire we need to go out and do things.
So if our batting clicks it will be good to get over 400 runs and then the bowlers can go out and help defend it,” he said.
