Digicel Regional First-Class cricket…Jaguars in 2nd place after five matches but there are kinks in their armor

Dec 21, 2016 Sports

---

By Sean Devers
While the Guyana Jaguars finished second in the first half of the Digicel Regional First-

Class cricket tournament on 64.6 points, 3.2 points behind leaders Jamaica Scorpions, the two times defending Champions were not as convincing as they were in the previous two seasons.
Barbados (47.2), Windwards (41.6), Leewards (40.4) and T&T (35.6) follow in that order.
The Jaguars have only won two of their five matches this season in which their18-match unbeaten streak was broken in St Kitts when the Leewards Hurricanes successfully chased down a 33-year-old record 369 to win after a sporting declaration on the tiny Warner Park left them to get the runs in 115 overs.
Everyone in the Jaguars’ top seven has scored fifties but only Shiv Chanderpaul, the oldest player in the tournament and one of the fittest, converted his into centuries. Chanderpaul, who made 91 against Jamaica in the opening round at Providence and 81 not out against the Leewards Hurricanes before getting an even 100 against Barbados and 143 against T&T’s Red Force, is the only Jaguars’ batsman with 300 runs (447). Jamal Hamilton, the leading run-scorer with 485 runs and Chanderpaul are the only batsmen with two centuries.
The inability to turn good starts into hundreds was a reason Guyana failed to get more batting points and shot selection when well set and the number of catches dropped should also be areas of concern.
Shemron Hetymer, who turns 20 on Boxing day, is most guilty of getting out to injudicious shot selection when well set since he has three half-centuries, a 47 and a 31 so far but still has one First Class ton which he made last season. He has 292 runs.
Last season, Rajendra Chandrika, Vishaul Singh, Leon Johnson, Hetymer and Assad Fudadin all scored centuries with Singh and Johnson getting two each.

Chandrika (251) scored fifties in the first two rounds but has struggled since and Tagenarine Chanderpaul, who scored the most runs in the GCB three-day Franchise League, could replace him at the top of the order after the Christmas and Surper50 break.
Singh returned from a very successful ‘A’ team tour to Sri Lanka and scored an accomplished 71 in the first round but has not reached 50 since. Singh, who has 175 runs, would be high on the selectors list of becoming Guyana’s next Test batsman but he must be careful of not batting himself down the pecking order, especially with so many centuries being scored this season.
Johnson is arguable the best leader in the West Indies and made the most runs last season. If he could repeat his last season form he could be a candidate for West Indies Captaincy. But he must first make the Regional team. Although he looks good in the middle and has two half-centuries so far this season, he needs to make hundreds and stop wasting solid starts.
Bajan Rifer has played his part with both bat and ball and now seems settled as the all-rounder in the Jaguars line-up.
Chris Barnwell’s only score of note was his 61 in St Kitts and has 109 from six innings, while his medium pace has produced just six wickets and 20-year-old Berbice all-rounder Romario Shepherd could challenge him for one of the all-rounder spots.
Anthony Bramble has scored important runs this season including 58 in St Lucia and while he might not be the most technically correct Keeper he has been efficient. After five matches this season has the most dismissals (24) among all the Keepers in the tournament after finishing with the most dismissals last season.
Left-arm spinners Veerasammy Permaul (27 Wkts) and Gudakesh Motie (16) has been consistent but have not been as destructive as they were last season and have bowled too many bad balls which releases the pressure on the batsmen.
The level of fielding, especially the catching, has been well below the standard of last season which was a reason Guyana won last season.
The fast bowling of Joseph (16), who has gained some muscle and pace since his return from Sri Lanka with the ‘A’ and left-armer Reifer (16) has been the most pleasing aspects of Guyana’s cricket this season.
The pair has been the most successful new ball partnership in the tournament with 32 scalps between them and has given the Jaguars 6.4 fast bowling points in only five matches, something which never happened even when Guyana were winning.
In St Lucia the Guyana pacers took nine of the wickets in the Windwards first innings in which Reifer had 6-82, a feat which has not been achieved in over two decades since Barrington Browne (3-57) and Linden Joseph (6-51) failed to prevent Guyana from losing to Jamaica in the 1992.

---

---