Consistency and positivity key for top order As Jaguars look to rebound from two-day defeat in Jamaica

Feb 24, 2019 Sports

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By Sean Devers
In the five-year history of the Regional First Class Cricket, the Guyana Jaguars Franchise has dominated and has won every title since the League was inaugurated in 2015, but consistency and positivity will be key for their top order as they look to rebound from a humiliating defeat in two days against Jamaica Scorpions last Friday at Sabina Park.
They hunt a possible record five consecutive titles this season in which they have already lost three of their eight matches; the first time Jaguars have lost more than one game in any season.
Another title will see Guyana join Jamaica (successive championship from 2008-2012) and give Leon Johnson five Regional First-Class titles to go past Nikita Miller, who won four in a row after Chris Gayle won the first in 2008.
Wins against Windwards Volcanoes in St Lucia, Leewards Hurricanes in Antigua, Barbados Pride in Barbados and Leewards Hurricanes at home give Jaguars a massive lead.
A two-wicket loss to Hurricanes on home soil was their first loss in 15 matches and third defeat at the hands of the Hurricanes in only four losses since the tournament began; the other being to Barbados in the first season at Providence when chasing 68 to win Jaguars catapulted to 66 all out.
At the halfway stage Jaguars had lost just four games in 45 matches and their first loss this season coincided with the departure of their Head Coach Esuan Crandon to fulfil Windies Assistant Coach duties and the appointment of Shiv Chanderpaul as Jaguars’ Assistant Coach.
In the next game in Trinidad, the Red Force beat them by 93 runs; the first time the Jaguars had lost two games in a season but they rebounded by beat the Scorpions by seven wickets at Providence before being crushed in two days at Sabina Park, a ground they scored their lowest total (41) in 1986.
This defeat was one of the quickest in the 53-year history of sponsored Regional Four-Day which began in 1966 with the Shell Shield.
Consistency by their top order has been their downfall after their first three away matches with only Tagenarine Chanderpaul, with 464 runs from eight matches and Chanderpaul Hemraj with 287 from four matches of the top order have scored a century.
Chanderpaul, who Averages 35.69 and also scored a fifty, has faced a staggering 1,752 balls with him not managing to score off 85% of them (1,488).
Since his responsible 117 against the Windwards in the fourth round Chanderpaul has not passed 40, with his last seven scores being 15, 12, 10, 33, 13, 19 and 22.

But while he has faced too many dot balls, Hemraj, since his return from the warm-up games against England, he has managed just 82 runs including a top score of 42 in his last four innings and has given his wicket away with adventurous shots when well set.
Sherfane Rutherford, promoted to number three, like Hemraj, got himself out with injudicious shot selection and after his 54 in the lower order, he has made six single digit scores including two ducks in his 106 runs.
Vishaul Singh has three half centuries in 303 runs from six matches but has failed to build on good starts and the same can be said of Skipper Johnson with 382 runs from eight matches with three fifties, two of them scored at home against Jamaica.
Widely regarded as the best leader in the region, an outstanding season with the bat could have aided in Johnson’s Test return but apart from his unbeaten 61 in the last home game, Johnson, usually an attractive batsman, has faced 852 balls with 80.4% of them being dot balls (685) and struggled to score with any fluency. He has been the biggest disappointment of this season in which his team has lost the most matches in a single season.
Although Keeper Anthony Bramble is the Jaguars’ leading run scorer with 475 runs from eight matches and has scored two of the four centuries made by Guyanese this season, he has fallen away in the last few games.
Pace bowling all-rounders Romario Shepherd (288 runs with two fifties), Chris Barnwell (250 from 6 matches with 2 fifties), Clinton Pestano (214 with a fifty) and Raymon Reifer (161 from 4 games with a fifty) have had to prop up the lower order with vital runs.

Apart from on rare occasions like in their last defeat when Jermaine Blackwood and the stylish Brandon King featured in an unfinished 143-run stand, the bowlers have done their job.
Left-arm spinner Veerasammy Persaud, although at times is still bowling too flat, has 34 wickets, second only to Leewards’ off-spinner Rakeem Cornwall.
Jaguars have the most ‘fast bowling’ points, with Shepherd (28), Pestano (22), Keemo Paul (20 from three matches) and Reifer (14 from four games), while Bramble has supported them with 32 dismissals which is the most this season.
Even if the Leewards beat the Red Force today, Jaguars will hold a very slim lead heading into their final two home games against Red Force and Pride.
When contacted for a comment on the loss Jaguars Manager Rayon Griffith said he was in a meeting and when he was finished will offer his comments, but up the press time there was no response from him.
Guyana have won 11 First-Class titles so far since Rohan Kanhai led them to their first in 1973. Guyana also won in 1975 (Clive Lloyd), 1983 (Lloyd), 1987 (Roger Harper), 1993 (Harper) and 2002 (Carl Hooper).

 

 

 

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