Guyana begin first step towards Champions league

Jul 14, 2010 Sports

By Sean Devers

On August 13th 2006 in the 106-sqaure-mile Island of Antigua 14 Guyanese players and two officials became instant millionaires when Narsingh Deonarine’s final over six gave Guyana the inaugural Stanford regional 20/20 title with a breathtaking win against Trinidad and Tobago in the final.

Flashback: Ramnaresh Sarwan proudly waves the national flag as his players celebrate winning the Stanford 20/20 title in 2006.

Four years later and after losing by a run to Jamaica in the last regional 20/20 semi-final in 2008, Guyana’s cricketers once again find themselves on the road to fame and fortune and Manager Carl Moore, who managed the side to championship honours in 2006, says the players are fully aware of the opportunities to improve their lives and make their country proud as they prepare for their third regional 20/20 tournament.

Guyana will oppose the Windward Islands from 14:00hrs in Barbados on July 23 in their first match in the Caribbean 20/20 competition before playing CCC and Barbados in their other preliminary round games and the Ramnaresh Sarwan-led Guyana squad yesterday commenced their encampment at the Chetram Singh Centre of Excellence at LBI.

Moore told Kaieteur Sport yesterday that while every tournament is important when you represent your country the knowledge that the winner of this regional competition will represent the Caribbean in the Champions Club league in September in South Africa is a tremendous motivation to win the July 31 regional final in Trinidad.

Sarwan, Travis Dowlin and Narsingh Deonarine are the senior players in the team and were all in the 2006 team which brought glory to Guyana and united a nation in a year it held its last National elections. Jonathon Foo and fellow Berbician Paul Wintz are the new caps at National senior level in a team without Shiv Chanderpaul, who was also absent when this country conquered all in Antigua for the US$1million first prize.

Moore explained that the team will have a 07:00hrs aerobics session at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall this morning before having a fielding session at the Guyana National Stadium from 11:00hrs today.

The players practiced at the indoor facility yesterday afternoon and Moore said that the main problem now is the weather. “We are encamped until July 19 and we depart from Barbados on July 21.

We are hoping to have two days of 20/20 practice matches this weekend but due to the rain getting a venue is proving difficult,” Moore disclosed.

While the Stadium is available for fielding drills, no practice matches can be played there since preparations have began for the CAC Rugby Champions which commence on July 24.

The general standard of the Digicel National 20/20 competition, which was used to select the National team, left much to be desired with only Travis Dowlin and to a lesser extent Assad Fudadin and Royston Crandon displaying the type of savvy associated with batting in a 20/20 innings.

Team cricket and contributions from everyone is very important in the game’s shortest format and Moore revealed that off-the-field mental strengthening sessions are scheduled for the players in an effort to make them comprehend what is the magnitude of winning the regional competition to this country.

Although Richard Ramdin and Deon Ferrier could be considered unfortunate to be left out, the team is a very good all-round unit.

The prospects of the money to be made in South Africa for both the players and the Guyana Cricket Board and the opportunities of possible IPL selection for outstanding performers on a world stage should result in very little shortage of inspiration for the Guyana team to win the Caribbean 20/20 competition.

The selection of the squad and the commencement of preparations are the first steps on the road to South Africa.