Secretary of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Anand Sanasie said he believes the initiative to create a cricket academy along with structured coaching education programmes will assist in the development of cricket locally as the GCB seeks to maintain the successes of 2014 in 2015.
According to Sanasie, the GCB had lots to cheer about last year and he is optimistic of a more prosperous 2015 where Guyana can be elevated to becoming the most competitive cricket country in the Region.
The executives of the GCB are striving to have all the facets to enhance players’ development in place, so 2015 can be more productive for the national teams, said Sanasie.
In the following interview with Stabroek Sport, Sanasie talks about the success and challenges of 2014; plans for 2015 including how the GCB can assist players in attaining international cricketing status, the way forward for female, junior and senior cricket and development strategies among others.
Following is the interview.
SN: What was the major challenge for the GCB in 2014?
AS: The major challenge for the GCB in 2014 was to create a level of brokerage and advocacy with relevant stakeholders to ensure that international cricket was played in Guyana during 2014. As you are aware international cricket was not played during this period. However, this had by no means hindered the GCB’s unwavering commitment towards the effective administration of the game.
SN: As it regards international cricket when can we expect its return to Guyana?
AS: It’s indeed an extended absence of international cricket but I can assure the fans that Guyana will be hosting India in 2016.
SN: What were some of the major achievements during the year?
AS: It is with a sense of pride and satisfaction that the GCB recognised all of its representative national teams as raising their level of competitive standards in 2014. These teams were so competitive that:
* The National Under-15 team won the Regional Tournament.
* The National Under-19 team won the Regional double – three-day and one-day formats of the game. First time this had ever happened.
* The senior women brought second in the Regional tournament, being defeated by Jamaica in the final, a team that they (Guyana Women) played and beat in the preliminary round.
* The women Under 19 team were runners up in the 2014 Under 19 Goodwill Tournament.
* The Under 17 team finished fourth in the Regional tournament despite having an entire match abandoned due to rain.
SN: What is your overall view of cricket in Guyana during 2014?
AS: Undoubtedly the current GCB executive has administered the game of cricket effectively, a fact that must not be underestimated. This effective administration is easily exemplified in the GCB executives’ willingness and ability in ensuring the conduct of structured coaching education programmes. These programmes allowed cricket knowledgeable personnel to actively and consistently interact with potential players of future national teams well in advance of regional tournaments – assessing, challenging and improving players’ competitive standards in the areas of physical fitness, technical capabilities and mental toughness.
SN: The youth teams did extremely well at the regional level, what brought about such success?
AS: The youth team’s successes must be attributed to a number of factors, these include but are not limited to, the effective administration of the game, the effectiveness of the coaching education programmes which target players’ physical fitness, technical abilities, game strategies, mental toughness and the like, and the players own cognitive abilities on the field of play. Certainly at the end of the day, regardless of the implemented programmes, it will be up to the players on the park to do the job. Our youth teams were successful because the players displayed good physical fitness, understood themselves – strengths and weaknesses, were able to give of their best consistently, consistently played as a unit/team, displayed good reasoning skills – by thinking on their feet to stay ahead of their opponents and were mentally tough.
SN: Is there any system in place to keep the interest of young players like Steven Sankar, Sharaz Ramcharran and Kemol Savoury among others, who have dominated at the youth level but might not elevate to the senior team immediately?
AS: Definitely there are programmes in place to assist with the progressive development of our promising players. As you are aware, that during 2014 the winning Under 19 team was given the opportunity to participate in the senior Inter County Championship – a first of its kind in Guyana. Secondly, players such as Savoury are currently a part of the academy unit which focuses on training potential national players, all of whom (once not contracted in the original 15) have an outside chance of representing Guyana Jaguars under Pay for Play during the 2014/2015 West Indies PCL Regional Tournament. Third, but by no means least, the GCB will be conducting continuous coaching education programmes throughout Guyana, of which such players are earmarked to be monitored, guided and managed in a structured and systematic manner.
SN: What is the academy expected to be like?
AS: The GCB will be contracting an additional 12 players before the end of January to go along with the 15 who are already contracted by the board. It is more like a second team that will go through the necessary to enhance their abilities.
SN: Recently Guyana has been producing West Indies U-19 players, however, these players like Kwame Crosse, Chanderpaul Hemraj and Keon Joseph among others, are not progressing to be dominant in the national teams, what is affecting such transition?
AS: Please note, that selectors make decisions on team composition based on a number of factors which includes but are not limited to the nature of opponents, the pitches, the expertise of player resource available and the current fitness and performance of players. Nevertheless, in the case of Kwame Crosse, the GCB has in place structured and systematic coaching education programmes of which he shall be involved. As you know, these programmes seek to help players to self-actualize, to become the best that they can possibly be. As it relates to Hemraj, he is currently a part of our academy programme of which he can easily be selected to the Guyana Jaguars team under Pay for Play depending on the player resource needed from time-to-time during the tournament. Likewise, Joseph has been unquestionably improving in fitness, accuracy and pace. Joseph is a very enthusiastic cricketer with vast potential. However, cementing his place in the national 11 will depend a lot on the opportunities given and his readiness to seize such opportunities.
SN: Is this coaching programme a new initiative by the GCB and if yes when will it commence?
AS: It was implemented by our current administrators and will be a structured coaching programme that will enable coaches to feature throughout the length and breadth of Guyana. It is also being use for talent identification apart from development and is set to commence the third week in January.
SN: The Guyana senior team had a mixed year. They performed poorly in the regular first-class season but rebounded to be atop of the points standing at the end of the initial rounds of the PCL, what influenced such a dramatic turn around?
AS: While Guyana’s performances in the Regional four-day tournament earlier in the year was far from par, one must not forget that Guyana started the Regional 50 overs tournament on a high, reaching the semi-final stages. Their performances prior to the semi-finals were highly respectable. However, during the beginning stages of the West Indies PCL Regional four-day tournament, Guyana Jaguars have demonstrated a higher level of mental focus and game application, elements that may have been lacking during the earlier 2014 Regional four-day tournament. However, the players’ current fitness levels, contractual motivation, mental toughness and game application appear to be contributory factors to the current success.
SN: Leon Johnson is the latest player from Guyana to make the West Indies team, what is in place to produce more international players?
AS: The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) continues to invest highly in their players by giving them the necessary support to harness and develop their skills, and to create the necessary exposure to competitive cricket environment towards ensuring their continuous growth and development – with all such provisions being administered in an impartial, level and competitive playing field. As such, the GCB expects that its structured programmes will continue to assist its players in attaining international cricketing status.
SN: Batting is still an issue at the senior level, what strategies does the GCB have to resolve this?
AS: All cricket related issues will fall under the umbrella of the coaching education programme. In the conduct of this programme, as it relates to senior players heavy emphasis is placed on the players reasoning skills and game applications by creating game simulations that challenge players’ needed areas for growth. As a result, the approach to deal with any batting issue shall resemble such as explained. The expanded coaching staff being closely monitored by our Territorial Development Officer (TDO), Colin Stuart, is quite capable of assisting our batsmen to develop their skills.
SN: Essequibo continues to be a major concern and is evidently behind the other counties as it relates to their performances, what does the GCB have planned in order to improve the standard of cricket in Essequibo?
AS: There is no easy fix to the complexities that Essequibo cricket presents. However, there continues to be continuous assessment, communication and strategy discussion and implementation of a number of applicable and realistic interventions in an effort to enhance the standard of cricket in Essequibo. What has been identified as a big challenge for Essequibo cricket, is its geography, logistics and the ability to finance consistent competitive interaction among and between players and teams. Nevertheless, alternative ways have been explored and continues to be explored in an effort to find a common and agreeable pathway towards the enhancement of Essequibo’s cricket.
SN: There are growing concerns from professional players who ply their trade overseas but are still keen on playing for Guyana, how can they qualify to make the team?
AS: It must be noted, that in order to become eligible to represent Guyana, interested players must qualify to represent their respective county teams or an alternate team of equal importance and standing for example; President’s X1. By representation, it is meant that a player must be available and willing to play for their national team. The selectors are mandated to select from the pool of players who participated in the Inter County Tournament in question, and may only go beyond those realms to select a player who did not participate in such a tournament due to wholly and acceptable reasons. As such a player may be selected due to the fact that their absence from the Inter County championship was due to them representing the national team, West Indies team or a select international team, had obtained from the GCB a No Objection Certificate – NOC due to contractual cricket assignment overseas, was sick, injured or in grief due to the death of a close family member or loved one. Any and all such decisions is to be determined by the executive of the GCB, before the selectors can duly act upon such a possibility.
SN: The standard of club cricket has declined over the years, in your view what has been the cause and how can the issue be solved?
AS: Well the apparent decline of the standard of club cricket may be due to the volume of lower quality players, the nature of club development programmes, nature of pitches and standard of competition and most importantly, the lack of financial resources. Therefore, in seeking to raise the standard of club cricket, the GCB seeks to encourage and support its affiliate County and Association or Committee boards to assist clubs in having structured programmes in an attempt to raise the quality and standard of the players, to improve practice facilities and match pitches in an attempt to expose players to different pitch surfaces, and to create competition formats that makes matches more competitive. Obviously, the earlier players are exposed to quality cricket, the more likely they are to develop through valuable experience gained. As a consequence, the growth in the quality and standard of the players will proportionally help to lift the standard of the competition. We will also continue to seek help from the government and the WICB to assist our clubs in facilities development.
SN: Guyana’s female team did their best at the regional level, finishing as runners up to Jamaica who they beat in the preliminaries, what will be done to encourage more females to get involved and what can we expect for female cricket in 2015?
AS: The GCB coaching education programmes that is being conducted is geared at encouraging female participation at varying levels across the country. From the level of under 12 in the Scotiabank Kiddy Cricket, female participation is mandatory. As the coaching education programmes targets older age group it seeks to encourage the meeting of female players in different associations or committees from which representation would be made for players to be assessed for county competition participation. As a result in 2015, the GCB will continue to find ways to stimulate interest in schools and communities to have a higher level of female practice attendance within the association arranged activities, where players will be assessed, guided and managed for competitions that are friendly and /or sponsored organised.
SN: How did the court issue affect the GCB?
AS: The current GCB executive perceives itself as being a resilient and committed set of individuals and employ persons who will demonstrate an unwavering commitment towards accomplishing set board goals. As a result, all court actions which surface (once the GCB is permitted to function) do not hinder the development process, as all individuals involved take appropriate and effective steps to delivery on their mandate to develop the game and its players. Having said that, I must admit the court matters have tremendously affected our ability to attract sponsors, without whom the GCB cannot survive financially.
SN: What will the GCB take from 2014 into 2015?
AS: Definitely the GCB will be taking our 2014 winning edge into 2015 as an inspiration and motivation for success in 2015. The GCB has examined its 2014 approaches and will be utilising such approaches which shall be appropriately adjusted to ensure higher levels of service delivery and productivity.
SN: What can we expect from the GCB in 2015?
AS: The GCB’s main aim is to give quality assurance to all their sponsored programmes and to ensure all nationally representative teams give of their best at the regional level. It is our goal to at least finish in the top two positions at all regional competitions in 2015. However, the GCB does acknowledge our ability to win all such Regional tournaments in 2015.
