Johnson proud to be in the company of Lloyd & Harper

Mar 22, 2016 Sports

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Says total team effort helped Jaguars to repeat titles

By Sean Devers
At 28 Guyana Jaguars Captain Leon Rayon Johnson not only became the only Guyanese Skipper to win consecutive First-Class titles, but he led also from the front with bat with the most runs in the tournament from

10 matches, Johnson was the only batsman with 800 runs (807) he also made two centuries and five fifties at an average of 57.64 and hit the most sixes (19) and took the second most catches (17). But the crowning moment for Johnson, who has two fifties in four Tests, was seeing Gudakesh Motie at long-on, run to his left to catch Dennis Bullie off Veerasammy Permaul to give Guyana an innings and 54-run win against Jamaica and its eighth Regional First-Class title. No team has won more than eight matches in a single season and the victory against Jamaica was the eighth for the Jaguars. The Jaguars also won eight games last season. Jamaica is the only other team to win eight games in a season which they achieved in 2008 & 2012.
Johnson joined Clive Lloyd (75 & 83) and Roger Harper (87 & 87) as the only Guyana Captain to win the title twice after Rohan Kanhai led Guyana to its first title in 1973. Carl Hooper is the only other Guyanese Captain to lift the Trophy in 1998. “It’s great to be in the prestige company of Mr. Lloyd and Mr. Harper in terms of titles won, Guyana has produced high quality players and teams in the past but has never been able to repeat as champions so that’s a feather in the cap of me and the team,” Johnson said with a smile as broad as the Kamauni Creek where he hails from.
Johnson, who began his First-Class career as a 16-year-old at Enmore in 2014, explained why he thought the Jaguars have extended their unbeaten run to 17 since their defeat against Barbados in November 2014 at Providence. “I think one of the main reasons for us remaining unbeaten has been our consistency in all departments including the way we prepare, what we produce on the field is just a reflection of the way we train and prepare for games,” said the GCC left-hander. Apart from Johnson, his deputy Vishaul Singh is only one of four batsmen with 700 runs (712) including three centuries.
West Indies U-19 Captain Shemron Hetymer, who scored his maiden ton in his only match on his return from India from the youth World Cup, Rajendra Chandrika and Assad Fudadin have all scored hundreds this season. But Johnson, who has not played a Test since his half-century against South Africa in January last year feels bowlers win matches, “Our strength this season has been our bowling, on eight occasions we have been able to take 20 wickets and win games. I am a firm believer that bowlers win matches, so once we the batters put the runs on the board we give the bowlers the chance to express themselves,” said Johnson, who has four tons and 28 fifties from 73 games at this level.
While Johnson could be considered unfortunate not be selected for any of the four Tests series preceding his last one, his one flaw is his conversation rate but this season converted two more of his half-centuries into hundreds. “My batting has been consistent this season, its pleasing to have scored the majority of my runs away from home, just a bit disappointed to be out twice in the 90s but I am pleased to have scored the most runs” Johnson disclosed. The Guyana Captain spoke of the importance of having the young players as a part of the Guyana set-up. “It’s always important to have young players in and around the team, in a few years they will be the backbone of the team so it’s important to have them around now whilst we are doing well so that they learn for the future,” Johnson explained. “Hetymer came into the team for a vital match and showed his quality and that he belongs here. He has been earmarked as a future leader so it arguers well for our cricket, while young Chanderpaul has been good at the top of the order for us as well,” said Johnson who added that Motie was exceptional in his first season of First-Class cricket and carried the bowling attack in the first few rounds when the senior spinners were absent. “I won’t single out any player as key, we all needed each other to perform, throughout it was a total team effort,” Johnson added.
Meanwhile, Head Coach Esaun Crandon was high in praise for Leon Johnson’s batting and captaincy during the course of the 10-match tournament. This is the best I have seen Leon bat, he seems now fully matured as a person and a cricketer and that maturity was also reflected in his captaincy. I have no doubt that he will be back in the West Indies team. Crandon, a former Guyana First-Class pacer, said that excellent preparation, dedication and hard work were the main reasons for the team’s success. Crandon informed that the team received tremendous support from Cricket Guyana and all the support staff. The early commencement of training and the addition of the Academy players to the training schedule have also been of tremendous advantage to our success. Coach Crandon was delighted with the success of two of the team’s youngest players in 19-year-old Shemron Hetymer and 20-year-old Gudakesh Motie who are both from Berbice.

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