Guyana Amazon Warriors batsman, Sherfane Rutherford, has not been left in the dark as he has garnered support from his teammates.
Chris Green, captain of the side, expressed confidence in the 22-year-old yesterday during a virtual press conference.
“Sherfane is a quality player,” Green said.
“He is a key part of this Guyana team and like everyone, everyone goes through peaks and troughs through form,” he added. Rutherford has featured in seven of the Warriors 10 group matches and has scored just 39 runs at a strike rate of 76.47 and a highest score of 15. This is uncharacteristic of the pulsating big hitter who has a T20 strike rate of 133.
“I’ve been really impressed with his continued pushing and development of his own game as well as he has stayed close to our team and similarly the guys has a lot of love for Sherfane and has been helping him out as much as they can,” said Green.
The captain overlooked Rutherford’s form and commended him on his dedication.
“He’s got tremendous work ethics, he came into this side with probably his best physical condition I’ve ever seen him in over the last two years since I’ve been here. He is working really hard at his game and wants to do really well,” Green stated. According to Green, Rutherford is not all to blame, with the conditions posing challenges to all the batsmen in the side and fortunately, he opined, someone has stood up with the bat when it mattered.
“Sometimes in these conditions particularly with batting it can either work for you or it doesn’t work for you, other guys have put their hands up at different times,” he added.
Green was confident Rutherford’s current rut is not permanent but will likely turn around by the next tournament.
“I am sure if Sherfane’s opportunity doesn’t come in this tournament it will come in the next one. Obviously he’s got IPL [Indian Premier League] and hopefully next year as well but we still have full faith in Sherfane pulling through and delivering that match-winning performance for us,” he explained.
