Guyana are in the easier of the two zones and with the other teams in Zone ‘B’ being Barbados, Leeward Islands and the West Indies Under-19s.

Defending champions Trinidad and Tobago will enter the competition straight from duties at World 20/20 tournament in India and will have to face Jamaica, Windward Islands, Combined Campuses and College (CCC) in Zone ‘A’.

The West Indies cricket Board (WICB) has mandated that players must play in this competition to be eligible for selection for the Test series to Australia later this year and the Guyana team will be selected on Sunday after the final of the El Dorado Inter-County 50-overs competition at the Stadium on Saturday night.

Chairman of selectors Claude Raphael informed that the National twenty/20 team to play in the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) twenty/20 Festival on October 24 & 25 should be different from the one picked for the Regional One-Day competition and added that the Inter-County competition will be used to select the Guyana team unless there are acceptable reasons to pick someone who did not play in that competition.

Rejected former West Indies Captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul has completed his contract in England with Durham and was expected in Guyana from New York this week, Chanderpaul along with Guyana’s newest Test player Travis Dowlin, should strengthen the Demerara team for the El Dorado Final against Berbice on Saturday.

The biggest headache for the selectors could be the batting line-up and the keeper, since a few good players could miss out in the middle order and none of the keepers in the Inter-County competition were outstanding with the gloves although Delbert Hicks showed he could bat.

With West Indies rejects Ramnaresh Sarwan (who should captain the side), Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine and Sewnarine Chattergoon available for Guyana in addition to Dowlin and Royston Crandon who played in the make-shift team in South Africa along with Leon Johnson, who was not selected, seven players who have played for the senior West Indies team in the last year are vying for batting spots.

While the classy Sarwan, the dependable Chanderpaul and the talented Deonarine are the team’s three best batsmen and automatic picks for the numbers 3, 4 & 5 spots; Chattergoon also a sure pick to open, the problem could be finding a position for Dowlin.

In limited overs cricket where power-plays now play a crucial role, the number six and number seven batsmen are usually those equipped with the ability to take the attack to the bowlers and in this regard all-rounder Chris Barnwell seems an ideal number six.

Royston Crandon got a ton on his Regional One-Day debut as opener and is also a ferocious hitter of the ball when on the go but his technique is arguably not best suited to facing the swinging new ball. He could bat at seven.

Derwin Christian still remains the best of the keepers in contention and has the ability to hit the ball and get consistent big scores once he focuses on shot-selection. He could bat at number eight with Esuan Crandon (another big hitter) going in at nine.

Dowlin, who opted to open the batting in last year’s first-class tournament, could have to open the batting since he cannot bat ahead of Sarwan, Chanderpaul and Deonarine and could be wasted after that especially if pugnacious batting is required.

If Dowlin plays as an opener then Shemroy Barrington and Rajendra Chandrika (the other real contenders) could miss out while players like Assad Fudadin, who has been batting really well recently could also miss out.

Few would disagree that Johnson has plenty of talent but his inability to dominate with hundreds at club level after he returned from West Indies cricket and his form recently means that unless he starts matching his natural ability with runs his career could be put on hold.

Steven Jacobs, the other middle-order contender, is a good leader and his off-spin has improved rapidly and is now earning his 5-wicket hauls at Inter-County level. But he and the GCB should realize that Jacobs is a batsman who could bowl and not the other way around, especially at first class level.

However, in the shorter version, Jacobs’ spin could compliment his batting and gain him a place in the squad ahead of specialist off-spinner Zaheer Mohamed, although Jacobs might not get into the starting X1 if both Left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul and leg-spinner Davendra Bishoo play.

Permaul could be the only specialist spinner picked in Guyana’s starting X1 since Royston Crandon, Deonarine and Chattergoon can all bowl useful spin but if it is felt that Jacobs can bat at number 8, just after Royston Crandon and bowl 10 overs, he might squeeze in to strengthen an already strong batting line-up.

The fast bowlers could be another area of concern and Barnwell, who will have to provide 10 overs, could be given the task of sharing the new ball (he should not open the batting) with Esuan Crandon.

While Brandon Bess is genuinely quick, the selectors might want to have him concentrate on First-Class cricket at this point in his career while Trevon Garraway could lose out on a place in the squad due to the placid spin-friendly pitches in Guyana.

Is will be interesting to see what the selectors will come up with as Guyana, with 9 title since this competition was first played in 1973, hope to reclaim glory after missing out on a semi-final place last year for the first time since 2000.

Probable Guyana 14-man squad:

Ramnaresh Sarwan (Captain), Sewnarine Chattergoon, Travis Dowlin, Narsingh Deonarine, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Chris Barnwell, Royston Crandon, Derwin Christian, Esuan Crandon, Veerasammy Permaul, Steven Jacobs, Assad Fudadin, Shemroy Barrington and Davendra Bishoo.