Guyanese playing for pride against Leewards

Feb 19, 2010 Sports

---

Chance for players to step up

By Sean Devers in Trinidad In association with TCL Group & Splashmin’s Fun Park

After finishing last in the 2009 tournament, Guyana languish in the cellar position on 7 points going into their penultimate match in the 2010 Regional 4-Day cricket series against the Leewards from today at the National Cricket Centre in Couva.
Even if they win their last 2 matches outright they have no chance of lifting their first title since 2002 and the South Americans, the only team this year not to win a match, will be playing for pride.
A win here will take them to 19 points, 3 more than the Windwards (if they lose outright to T&T) and Guyana’s final round game in Grenada against the Windwards could be one in which the loser finishes last in the 7-team competition.
Guyana have lost their last 3 games since conceding first innings points in the drawn day/night match against T&T in Antigua and although there have been sparks of brilliance in the Guyana camp, this has been one of Guyana’s worst tournaments since they played the inaugural Regional First-Class match against Barbados in 1865.
The job of Coach Ravindra Seeram must be on the line and the young players should be keen to make a mark here.
Guyana are without Test batsmen Ramnaresh Sarwan, Narsingh Deonarine and Travis Dowlin but with the prolific Shivnarine Chanderpaul in the side, this is a great opportunity for the young guns to cement their places in the batting line-up even when the ‘big names’ return.
Chanderpaul showed how easy batting can be with a well compiled 77 against Barbados in the last match and his presence must have helped Zaheer Mohamed, who made an unbeaten 58 in a 93-run stand with the Tiger.
The Guyana camp must insist that Chanderpaul bats higher than the number 6 spot he occupied in Berbice.
The strange sacking of 24-year-old Trevor Benn without him playing a match and the inclusion of rookie 18-year-old West Indies youth team pacer Keon Joseph must be seen as an investment in the future and it is expected that Joseph will open the bowling with Brendon Bess to form what should be the quickest new ball attack in the competition.
If Skipper Sewnarine Chattergoon fails here, West Indies under-19 opener Trevon Griffith could get a call-up for the final game in Grenada while Rajendra Chandrika will want to prove that he can match his natural talent by applying himself at the top of the order.
Gajanand Singh is one of the most gifted young batsmen in the region and while he will feel hard done on both occasions by the Umpire in Berbice, he will know that only big scores here will guarantee his place when the ‘big boys’ return.
Assad Fudadin is back after a finger injury kept him out of the last match and he too will want to get his first 3-figure score after reaching 50 six times at this level.
Royston Crandon made 94 against CCC in Barbados but for someone who has only recently worn West Indies colors his place in the middle order could be on the line if he fails to make consistent big scores in a batting line-up which has badly lacked commitment.
Derwin Christian gets another chance to show why younger Keepers like national youth Skipper Anthony Bramble should not be given a try and will need to temper his aggression and improve his shot selection in this match.
The Guyana bowling has lacked ‘bite’ this season and although leg-spinner Davindra Bishoo rebounded from a poor start to the competition with a 10-wicket haul on his home ground in the last round, his Albion team mate Veerasammy Permaul did not offer the type of support required after taking a 5-wicket haul against Jamaica in Barbados.
Spinners need to work in partnerships and generally they mature later than batsmen or pacers. Bishoo and Permaul are our 2 best young spinners and have plenty of talent but their lack of consistency is worrying.
Today, on a track expected to offer assistance to slow bowling Bishoo, Permaul and Mohamed will need to show more patience and be more attacking against Leewards batsmen generally not ideally equipped mentally to handle good spin bowling.
At a time when Guyana has little to lose and should be looking to the future it will be interesting to see if Esuan Crandon, always a hard worker for Guyana will play as the third seamer.
If Crandon does no play the decision by the selectors to leave Benn out of the squad will prove even more unjustified.
The Leewards’ bowlers could be in for a tough time since with the Zimbabwe series set to start later this month it will not be surprising if Chanderpaul gets a big hundred as he warms up for more important work in West Indies colors.
Omari Banks will want to continue his good showing with the ball from Guyana as he aims for a West Indies re-call while without Runako Morton in the side the experience of Skipper Steve Liburd is critical for the Islanders.
The young guns in Devon Thomas, Tonito Willett, Kieran Powell and Montcin Hodge will all want to impress with the bat while pacer Lionel Baker will want to show that he is still around.

---

---