Champions Guyana Jaguars return home

Mar 26, 2015 Sports

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Four team members in WI 20-man training squad

By Sean Devers
The victorious Guyana Jaguars cricket team, minus Narsingh Deonarine who stopped off in Trinidad where he now resides, touched down at the Ogle International airport yesterday afternoon with their first Regional First-Class trophy since they shared the title with the Leewards in 1998.

This was the first time Guyana had won sole ownership of the title in 22 years after Roger Harper led them to championship honors in 1993, putting Leon Johnson on the list of only four others to have captained this Country to a Regional First-Class title.
The 27-year-old Johnson, who has two fifties in his four Tests, proudly stated that it’s an honor to represent his Country and a privilege to be among those who have led Guyana to a Regional title.
Decked out in his yellow travel shirt and black trousers with blue sunglasses, Johnson was fairly satisfied with his personal performance which has earned him a place in a 20-man training squad for next month’s three-Test series against England.
“I would love to retain my place on the West Indies and although I would prefer to bat in the middle order I am prepared to bat anywhere in the order to help the team.
The Guyana Skipper scored 465 runs from eight matches with two half-centuries in the tournament after missing a couple of games due to West Indies commitments in South Africa.
Shiv Chanderpaul finished as Guyana’s leading scorer and made a century in the final round in Dominica to take his runs tally to 539 from eight matches with two tons and four fifties. Chanderpaul was also Captain 17 years ago when Guyana won its last title at this level.
Johnson joined Rohan Kanhai (1973), Clive Lloyd (1975 & 1983), Harper (1987 & 1993) and Chanderpaul (1998) on the list of Guyanese Regional First-Class winning Captains although Carl Hooper won the 2002 Busta International Shield which was a First-Class title but not a regional one.
The Albion spin twins, left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul (67) and leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo (61) shared a whooping 128 wickets between them, the most by any two bowlers from the same team in a single tournament. They both bettered the record for most wickets in a tournament of 60 taken by Ryan Austin in 2009.
The 29-year-old Bishoo has 40 wickets from 11 Tests but last played at this level since April 2012 against Australia, but his showing has earned him a call-up to the West Indies training camp as did Permaul, who played the last of his four Tests in December of 2013 in New Zealand.
Bishoo disclosed that this was by far his best year at the Regional level and was not too surprised at his selection in the 20 based on his wickets this season.
“When I was going through a rough time I never give up and worked my way back to my best form and I have been rewarded with success,” Bishoo informed.
Permaul was elated that he is back in West Indies contention of not being selected for the 2015 World Cup. “I have put in the hard work and I am delighted that I am the bowler with the most wickets in one tournament,” Permaul stated.
Only former Test leg-spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo (50 wickets in 2002) has ever taken 50 wickets in a tournament for Guyana before Permaul and Bishoo’s record breaking feat this year.
The 24-old Anthony Bramble enjoyed his best season behind the stumps and effected 41 dismissals, one less than the record set in 2004 and 2009 by the unrelated Barbadians Courtney & Patrick Browne, and had 21 more dismissals than Shane Dowrich of Barbados.
Narsingh Deonarine (514) is the only Guyanese apart from Chanderpaul and Rajendra Chandrika (525) to reach 500 runs and his two tons were the most by a Guyanese in the tournament. Vishaul Singh (479) had a consistent season and scored a top class century against T&T, while Chris Barnwell (471) showed he is developing into a genuine all-rounder by getting a ton in the final game to compliment his seam bowling.
Deonarine and to a lesser extent Barnwell and Bramble were surpringly not selected in the 20 since Chanderpaul, Johnson, Permaul and Bishoo are the only Guyanese in picked for the training camp.
Secretary of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Anand Sanasie, who had called on the team to finish with a victory prior to their departure for Dominica, lauded them for fighting through the initial tough periods in the match and completed a thumping victory. He went on to express his satisfaction with the team’s dominant and consistent performance throughout the Tournament.
The Secretary also congratulated Permaul, Bishoo, Chanderpaul and Johnson for being called up in the West Indies 20-man camp for the England Tour and encouraged those who were not selected to continue working hard and their time will come as their on-field performances cannot be ignored forever.
GCB President Drubahadur congratulated the team for bringing the title back to Guyana after a long time, noting that they have set the bar extremely high for competitions to come. He noted that the GCB has excelled this year starting from the Under-15 right up to the senior teams. He thanked the Executives of the GCB for their commitment and the management of the Guyana Jaguars who is an extension of the Board.
Team management and staff expressed their gratitude to the Guyana Cricket Board and Cricket Guy Inc. for the support given to the team and pledged to continue to work hard for future success regionally.
In addition to the GCB officials, family and friends of the players were also present to welcome the victorious team. It was however very disappointing that the Sports Minister or anyone from his Ministry turned up at Ogle yesterday.
The team, which won nine of their 10 games to dominate the other teams, will take a one-week break before joining the Academy Jaguars for training.

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