Latest update December 4th, 2024 2:40 AM
Players doing more work on the their own- Yisrael
Crandon disappointed in manner of Shiv’s dropping
By Sean Devers
Since forming the Top End Performance Training System in 2011 Kezqweyah Yisrael
National youth spinner Steven Sankar (left) and Taignarine at Cosmos on Monday.
has trained some of this country’s top athletes including the contracted players from the Guyana cricket team.
His last training session was on Monday morning at the Cosmos Sports Club where he and former Cuba Volleyball player Kirenia Ballard Bell took the Demerara based players including Barbadian left-arm all-rounder Raymond Refier who the only overseas player in the Guyana Franchise, through a hectic two-hour workout session.
A former basketball player, Yisrael said he began doing this professionally because he realized that there was a need for athletes to be trained properly, especially those with the desire to make to go on to the International level, but were based at home.
Yisrael added that he has been involved with the cricketers for a few years but what he noticed the most about this group this year was their desire to do more work on their own now that they are contracted by the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB).
“I think that the players are more committed now because this is what they are being paid to do…play cricket …so they know if they are not at the required fitness level they could lose their
West Indies batsman Assad Fudadin and Guyana opener Trevon Griffith were also present at Monday’s training session.
contracts. So now, maybe motivated by the money, there are doing a lot more work on their own time which means their fitness level has improved a lot this season” Yisrael said.
He informed that he and Kirenia worked with the batsmen and spinners on Monday with their agility and strength areas while Head Coach Esuan Crandon put the fast bowlers through leg work sessions which included skipping, squats and jogging.
“Today’s (Monday) sessions went well. The guys are putting in the effort and defiantly improving” Yisrael, who first trained the 2010 National Cricket team on the recommendations of former Guyana and West Indies pacer Reon King, concluded.
Crandon, who took 90 wickets in 38 First-Class matches including a best of 7-125 against a T&T side that included Brian Lara in South Trinidad, praised the efforts of the pair of trainers who worked on the player’s weak areas. He informed that sessions continue today and tomorrow at the Chetram Singh Centre of Excellence which houses the GCB indoor facility and Hostel.
Commenting of the sacking of veteran Guyanese left-hander Shiv Chanderpaul from the West Indies team to face Australia in a two-Test series next month, the Guyana Head Coach he was surprised at the decision by Clive Lloyd and his selectors.
“I was surprised and disappointed that someone who has done so much for West Indies cricket for such a long time would be dropped in that manner,” Crandon, who made his First-Class debut in 2001, disclosed.
The Berbice pacer said that if he were a selector he would have given Chanderpaul a farewell game in which he could raise his bat one last time to thank his fans for their support over the last two decades.
“I would have picked him for the Dominica Test, especially since he was the first batsman to a Test century there and is an Honorary Citizen there because of that feat. Plus that would have given him the chance to pass (Brian) Lara’s record of most Test runs by a West Indian” opined Crandon.
“It is not about the record it’s about giving to bat for his fans one last time knowing this would be his last innings regardless if he got the runs or not to pass Lara’s record. But to deny him a farewell could send the wrong message to other players at a time when many of them are blamed for not having commitment to West Indies cricket,” Crandon ended.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
Deeply concerned about political dysfunction in society
Dear Editor The Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) is deeply concerned about the political dysfunction in society that is... more
Haiti: Tragically Descending into Deeper Crisis
By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News- As gang violence spirals out of control in Haiti, the limitations of international... more
Weekend Cartoon
