Both Permaul and Bishoo have shown that they have ability and with another year’s experience under their belts were expected to carry the bowling this year like Clyde Butts, Roger Harper, Derrick Kallicharran and later McGarrell and Nagamootoo did in partnership for so many years.

Permaul’s bowling has gotten mainly defensive and most of his wickets have come from the rare occasions that he flights and spins the ball.

In T&T’s 416, he had 2-88 while Bishoo, who has looked ragged this season, took 2-96.

In the T&T 2nd innings Permaul just managed 2 wickets while Bishoo had none in a game which ended in a draw with T&T taking first innings points.

In Jamaica’s 429, Permaul, who had the last 3 wickets as Jamaica hunted quick runs, took 5-63 while Bishoo went wicket-less.

Against CCC, who had lost their previous two matches outright, Permaul had two first innings wickets and none in the 2nd while Bishoo could only take a solitary wicket in each innings although the pitch provided lots of bounce and turn and off-spinner Ryan Austin took 10 wickets, including 7-42 in the 2nd innings.

In the first match in Antigua, leg-spinner Imran Khan had 6 wickets including 5 in the first innings while in their 2nd game left-arm spinner Nikita Miller bagged 8 wickets including 6-42 in the first innings.

While Permaul and Bishoo have gone backwards, Bess, the 22-year-old who has already been in the West Indies ‘A’ team mainly because of his genuine pace, has shown some improvement in his control. But in his 3rd year at this level, he is not learning as quickly as he should and averages over 50 runs per wicket from 15 games.

As expected, the West Berbice pacer bowled fast but against T&T had 1-96 from 23 overs; bowling too short and wide. Bess had one wicket in the T&T 2nd innings and 4-109 against Jamaica but was again expensive.

Against CCC, Bess bowled with pace but problems with his length and no-balls spoiled a reasonably good performance in which he took 3 wickets in each innings.

Nobody can fault Esuan Crandon for his hard work and steady bowling but his pace has dropped and as the senior pacer in the side he is more content to be the stock bowler.

Chris Barnwell did not look bad in his 10-over spell after being surprisingly under bowled in the first innings.

Deonarine looked a class act during his unbeaten century in Antigua and while Royston Crandon reached a solid 94 in the last game, the young brigade have not lived up to expectations on pitches which had no devil in them.

Rajendra Chandrika scored a fluent debut 65 in Antigua while Chattergoon made an attractive 74 in the 2nd innings in Antigua.

Assad Fudadin made 54 against Jamaica and Royston Crandon looked good in his 94 in the last game but nobody else reached 50 or no batsmen scored over 50 twice.

At 20, Chandrika looks full of potential but needs to strengthen his concentration level and temper his aggression while Fudadin, who now has 6 fifties from 29 First-Class games, needs to score a century.

The cavalier manner in which Barnwell threw his wicket away emphasized the poor concentration level and crazy shot selection by the batsmen and Barnwell has to be told that a number three batsman plays an important role for his team and that 2 fifties from 10 First-Class matches is a below-par performance.

If the young batsmen have not come to the party the performance of Test players Chattergoon and Dowlin have been depressing. Chattergoon has failed to build on starts after his first round 74 and as the senior batsman in the last match, failed to get big scores.

At 32, Dowlin has shown lots of guts and commitment for the West Indies and already has 3 fifties in four Tests. However, his performance for Guyana this season suggested he was more focused in West Indies colors. His shot selection, especially in Antigua, was disappointing and his 4 tons from 79 First-Class games since his debut in Grenada 13 years ago does not do his talent justice.

Vishaul Singh has scored plenty of runs at home but once the off-spinner turned the ball across him he looked uncomfortable and was twice dismissed by Austin against CCC. His edge to slip of a Khan google in Antigua suggests that he is not facing enough bowlers who really spin the ball in Guyana.

While Esuan Crandon also contributed with the bat and both Permaul and Bishoo showed fight in the lower order, Derwin Christian, who had 3 good games behind the stumps, continue to struggle with the bat after his maiden century against Jamaica last year.

The selectors indicated last year when the team finished last that Guyana was in a rebuilding process yet Leon Johnson, Shemroy Barrington and Steven Jacobs were not even in the training squad after playing last year and the ‘falling away’ of their cricket and the mental weakness of those in this team should influence the GCB to urgently address the psychological aspects of Guyana’s cricketers from the youth up to senior level.

While the poor pitches and low standard of Guyana’s club cricket have contributed to the performances of this team, one suspect that the major problem is a mental one. The batsmen and especially spinners are not showing enough patience and don’t seem to understand the tactical aspects of the game.

Chattergoon’s unimaginative Captaincy and the introverted style of Coach Seeram have made matters worse. The problem might not be the players selected but the lack of an overall development process for them.