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Conditions contributed to Chattergoon’s poor N/Zealand tour
West Indies left-hander eager to return to action in Nevis
By Sean Devers
Guyana’s batting for their next regional four-day game against the Leeward Islands in Nevis from next week Friday will be strengthened by the inclusion of West Indies opener Sewnarine Chattergoon who endured a poor run with the bat in the two Tests and four ODIs he played in his team’s recent tour to New Zealand.
The compact 27-year-old left-hander from Albion in Berbice managed just 51 runs from three innings in the two-Test series and 39 from four ODI matches and has lost his place in the side for the first Test against England in Jamaica from February 4.
Sewnarine Chattergoon during a practice session at the National Stadium
After missing Guyana’s first two games which they lost outright to the Windward Islands and Combined Colleges and Campuses (CCC), Chattergoon, who averages 18.44 from his four Tests after making 46 in his first Test innings last year when West Indies beat Sri Lanka in Trinidad, is hoping for big scores for Guyana to get back into the regional side and help improve Guyana’s standing in the competition.
“I am really looking forward to playing for Guyana and I hope to get some big scores to help Guyana do well and also help me to get back into the West Indies side. I have set a personal goal which I will not disclose and I am eager to return to Nevis where I scored a century when I last played there,” Chattergoon disclosed.
Chattergoon, who is 18 away from 3,000 first-class runs after 55 matches, scored an unbeaten 100 in 2005 batting with a runner at number seven to help Guyana, who were asked to follow-on, save the match on the last day when Guyana last played in Nevis in 2005. He became the first batsman in regional cricket to score an unbeaten century without running a single run.
Although Chattergoon got into double figures on five occasions in New Zealand his highest score was 25 in the second Test and he says that a big disappointment for him was not being able to build on the starts he got in New Zealand.
“As an opener the hardest part of the job is seeing the shine off the new ball which swings a lot more at the start of an innings and I think I was able to do that. But I never got a big score in any of the matches and I have to focus harder on carrying on from good starts since if you do all the hard work and then get out you are just wasting all your effort,” Chattergoon said.
He also felt the conditions and inexperience contributed to his low scores but says that he has identified some of his mistakes and is already working on them.
“This was my first overseas tour with the West Indies and I never really adjusted to the very cold weather or the conditions but I know I have learnt a lot from that tour and I feel I am a much better player mentally now. One of the areas I am working on is concentration to go on and bat really long and how I approach balls just around off-stump from the pacers,” Chattergoon explained.
With four first-class tons and 17 fifties under his belt in addition to 18 ODIs, the stroke-player who was born in Fryish, Corentyne, Berbice, said he desperately wanted to play in Guyana’s last game in Barbados but had to opt out at the last moment due to fatigue.
“I wanted to play in Barbados and even called the (Guyana team’s) Manager to let him know I was available. I landed in Barbados the evening before the start of the Guyana game and had jet lag from the long flight. I was in no physical condition to play so soon after coming from the cold climate in New Zealand and had to miss out in the best interest of the team and myself,” Chattergoon said.
“Of course I am disappointed not to be in the first Test but I should have made more runs and with so much cricket to be played by the West Indies this year and the regional season being played at the same time as the England series, I know I have plenty of opportunity to be back in International cricket. It’s all up to me and I am aiming to put my head down and bat really well and hope that everyone in the young Guyana team can pull their weight and get us back into the fight for the title,” Chattergoon, who has two ODI half-centuries, disclosed.
Chattergoon will partner Shemroy Barrington, who along with Skipper Travis Dowlin, looked the most organized of the batsmen in his debut game in Grenada and if the highly talented Barrington remains focused and Chattergoon returns to form, Guyana could be given a solid foundation for the middle-order to build on.
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