Guyana begin defence of Caribbean T20 title tonight

Jan 10, 2011 Sports

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Jamaica keen to repeat 2008 semi-final success

By Sean Devers in Antigua
In association with Digicel, Carib Beer, Leisure Inn, Guyana Stores Limited, Queensway & Dave’s West Indian Imports

Guyana beings the defence of their Caribbean T20 cricket title under lights from 20:00hrs tonight at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium at North Sound in Antigua and a large crowd of predominantly Guyanese supports are anticipated.
Guyanese and Jamaicans make up the bulk of the non-national population here and tonight’s feature game has been well promoted on the 108-square-mile Eastern Caribbean Island which first hosted Regional T20 cricket in the West Indies.
Despite a poor showing in last year’s Champions League T20 tournament in South Africa where they lost all four of their games, Guyana remains the most dominant team in Regional T20 competitions; winning two of the three Regional titles (2006 & 2010) and losing just once in 11 matches.
Jamaica has lost 6 of their 13 matches including their 2006 Stanford T20 loss to Guyana and are without Chris Gayle, one of world’s most destructive T20 batmen but new Coach ‘Gus’ Logie , the former T&T and West Indies batsman will remind them that they are the only team to beat Guyana in a Regional T20 match.
The Jamaicans who lost to Barbados in last year’s rain affected semi-finals, robbed Guyana the chance of appearing in back-to-back finals when they beat them by one run in a pulsating 2008 Stanford semi-final in Antigua and tonight the South Americans will have to bat well on a ground which has hosted just 4 T20s, including two Internationals between West Indies and South Africa last year.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul is not a devastating T20 batsman and he was not in the team on both occasions that Guyana took Regional championship honours but he has a wealth of International experience and is the only Guyanese to have played International T20 cricket on this ground.
Leg-spinner Davendra Bishoo and 20-year-old big-hitter Jonathon Foo, who both represented the West Indies in the ‘A’ team T20 series against Pakistan, are the only other Guyanese with T20 experience on this ground.
Last year Sewnarine Chattergoon scored 73 in a splendid century partnership at this ground with Narsingh Deonarine (104*) against T&T in the first ever Day/Night First-Class match in the West Indies.
But like Chanderpaul, Chattergoon, surprisingly picked to replace an injured Deonarine in the squad, struggles to score quickly in the game’s shortest format and will need to put the balls away if he plays tonight.
The batting could be Guyana’s biggest worry in this format and although Travis Dowlin is Guyana’s most successful T20 batsman, he has failed in his last 6 games for Guyana at the top of the order and must come good tonight if Guyana are to build a solid foundation for Skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan and the rest of the middle order to build on.
The position that Foo bats and how many overs he faces at the bottom of the innings and how mentally strong are the lower middle order batsmen in Steven Jacobs, Royston Crandon, Chris Barnwell and Derwin Christian could also be critical factors for Guyana tonight.
Richard Ramdeen could be asked to open the batting while using Chanderpaul at the top is also an option for the Guyanese who had a win and a loss in their two practice matches in Trinidad during the last week of last year.
How well Sarwan bats will also be very important to Guyana’s hopes of retaining their title and playing in this year’s Champions League in India.
If the batting is a worry the bowling is much better than last year with left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul returning to partner Bishoo after missing Guyana’s last three tournaments due to his commitments with the HPC team.
Teenage Left-arm swing bowler Andre Stoll bowled well in both practice matches in Trinidad and should make his regional senior team debut to share the new ball with the hard working Esuan Crandon.  Barnwell should provide medium pace support while Jacobs and Royston Crandon could share the off-spin duties.
Gayle’s absence due to his Big Bash commitments in Australia is a blow for Jamaica and Xavier Marshall will need to show maturity at the top of the order for Shawn Findlay, Danza Hyatt, Marlon Samuels, Horace Miller, David Bernard and Carlton Baugh to build on.
Skipper Wavell Hinds is a surprise selection for T20 cricket and the Guyanese would hope that he spends a long time at the crease without being explosive.
The Jamaica bowling looks good and all eyes will be on pacer Jerome Taylor who is back in the fray after injury while left-armer Krishmar Santokie, who was the best pacer in the inaugural Caribbean T20 tournament, could be a test for the Guyanese batsmen on a track which should have some early life since scattered showers are forecast for today. Left-arm pacer Sheldon Cotterell, who bowled well in Jamaica’s last practice match, will also be hoping to get an opportunity to make a mark at this level.
West Indies latest Test pacer Andre Russell is fast and with support from Bernard and spinners Nikita Miller and Odean Browne, the Jamaica bowling could be their strength tonight.
T&T, who beat Jamaica in the 2008 final, is the only other team to win a Caribbean T20 tournament and Jamaica would be keen to start well after a poor tournament last year when they never looked like a team.
Under the lights tonight the team which bats better could be the winner of a match which will be broadcast throughout the region by the Line and Length Radio and shown live by ESPN 2 Television.

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