Sarwan endorses Gayle, looking forward to President’s Cup

Oct 28, 2009 Sports

Guyana Skipper disappointed with team’s preparation

By Sean Devers

Elegant Guyana Captain Ramnaresh Sarwan says he is looking forward to playing high-level cricket again as the President’s Cup Regional One-Day cricket tournament starts in Guyana today and is eager to get back into the West Indies team.

The 29-year-old former West Indies Skipper said he was disappointed with Guyana’s preparations and was especially critical of the practice facilities for his team which was only selected last Saturday evening.

While the team includes 6 players who have played International cricket for the West Indies, a disjointed performance against Jamaica in the final of the Guyana Cricket Board 20/20 Cricket Festival resulted in a 5-run loss for the home team raising concern that the team is not as mentally prepared as it should be as they face the Leewards at Enmore in their opening match today.

Sarwan, a veteran of 152 ODIs and 82 Tests, averages just over 42 in both forms of the game and has 30 centuries from 183 First-Class matches since he made his debut as a 15-year-old in 19996.

The former West Indies Captain feels that the President’s Cup should be very competitive with all of the top players on show and says he will not be taking any of the teams lightly since in One-Day cricket any team which plays badly on the day can be beaten.

The right-hander led Guyana to championship honours with a record breaking 446 runs in the 2005 series but since then Guyana has struggled at both First-Class and Regional One-Day levels and for the first time since 2000, failed to qualify for the One-Day semi-finals last year at home.

Due to economic reasons, the competition is again being played in Guyana but Sarwan says his team is not benefiting from any home advantage.

“I don’t think we got the best out of our last practice session since to my mind the facility was not the best for a National team session and we were unable to use the Stadium on Monday because the pitch was wet. I am disappointed with our preparation and we are at home,” Sarwan lamented.

He said the players have to be mentally strong to put aside their lack of proper preparation and go and give their beat in this competition. The Guyana Skipper is banking on his senior players who are all professionals to go out and get the job done while he hopes the young players in the side also contribute to the cause.

Manager Carl Moore will have to ensure that there is no friction in the team and that everyone can focus on the job of representing their county and not be distracted by personal matters outside of the cricket.

The WICB has stated that participation in this competition is a must to make a player eligible for the Australian tour and the Test squad is expected to be named on November 1.

“I have not played first class cricket for a while and I am anxious to be back in West Indies colours and representing the people in the region. I am looking forward to a good season with the bat and to also lead Guyana to the title. With everyone home it’s not going to be easy and we expect tough competitive cricket over the next week or so,” Sarwan said.

Sarwan feels his time as West Indies skipper has passed and fully endorses Chris Gayle for the Captaincy.

“I got injured just when I was appointed captain and things did not really work out so I think my time has passed. I want to concentrate on improving my cricket and my full support is with whoever is appointed Captain,” Sarwan said.

He added that in fairness to Gayle, the Jamaican has not done a bad job as Captain and has also done well with the bat as leader and should be given the opportunity to continue in the job.

“Chris has got the support of all of the players and I think that is very important in any team sport. He has done a good job so far and I know he is committed to West Indies cricket,” Sarwan informed.

The stroke player said being out of international cricket since June is not something he wanted but it gave him some time to rest and now he is eager to get going again.

“I cannot speak much about the team’s performance in the matches that I did not play in because I did not really look at the cricket much,” Sarwan said.

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Sarwan endorses Gayle, looking forward to President’s Cup

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