Vishaul Singh aims for Windies recall Feels CWI could take lots of positives from England tour

Jul 02, 2020 Sports

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By Sean Devers

(Cont’d from yesterday)
“I hold myself to high standards and did not produce the goods and had no issues with being dropped.
However, when I look around and see the opportunities afforded to others who have done similar to me or even worse, I feel disheartened that I was never given that chance, while others have been afforded that luxury,” lamented Vishaul.

“I hope for recall. Everyone who plays cricket want to play Test cricket, that’s your goal and you want to continue playing for the West Indies. I still have a few years left in me to serve whoever it may be, Guyana and the West Indies.
I prefer Test cricket, that’s how my game is setup, it’s more suited to Test cricket and adapt to the other formats. The comparison to Test cricket and First-Class cricket in the Caribbean I think it’s a big jump.
Technically yes… because guys test your technique more often than in First-Class cricket but the mental side of it is so intense.
For me it’s really intense, the level you have to be concentrating if you are batting, bowling or in the field since the stakes are so high. So mental strength needs to be really high and the need to focus for long periods,” said Vishaul.
The dogged Vishaul spoke about some of the crucial attributes needed to make big hundreds.
“Everything revolves around your batsmanship; Patience, shot selection and concentration. Those are the things you need to fine tune if you are to get a hundred. You can only get a hundred if you bat long…bat time and play the balls on merit and chose the right balls. You also need some luck because Umpires are only human,” said Vishaul.
Vishaul gave his thoughts on the West Indies tour to England at a time with Covid-19 is still around.
“With regards to the risk factor, playing cricket in general is a risk. With the Pandemic around it is probable a little bit more of a risk but we have to trust those in Administration to do the best they can to secure a safe environment.
I think this is a great opportunity for CWI, Marketing wise, this will be the only cricket on show and will pave the way for other nations to mimic how this is done if the Pandemic is still around so I think this is a good way for CWI to come out.
With regards to the Cricket itself, this is a good opportunity for us as a cricketing nation to prove ourselves against a power house in their own backyard so there are lots of positives,” continued Vishaul.
He feels ‘team cricket’ was the main reason for Guyana’s five-year winning streak. During that five-year span Guyana Jaguars had an unbeaten streak of 18 games after losing to Barbados in 2014 when Vishaul made his Captaincy debut.
“If you look at the composition of the team it would have been those guys that would have gained the experience from the previous years and they gelled together and played as a team.
A couple of seasons here and there you would have an outstanding performer and the majority of players would back up whether in the batting and bowling department. So I guess playing team cricket was the main reason why we dominated for five years.
While there were a few outstanding performances, you can’t really pin point one person that it was because of Tom Jones that we were so consistently successful, which is testimony of everybody contributing at one point or another to our success,” said Vishaul whose favorite sportsmen are Argentina and Barcelona Footballer Lionel Messi and New Zeeland Cricketer Kane Williamson.
He feels that CWI has made significant strides in the last few years in getting the Professional system and Franchise cricket in place and players getting paid to have a full time job to focus on their cricket and once they continue to find ways to develop the game and the players he believes cricket in the Region will grow from strength to strength.
Vishaul said the fastest bowler he has ever faced has to put in context.
“I think it goes with experience and what stage you are in your career. When I came out of U-19 cricket I faced Nelon Pascal in a practice match against the Windwards at Bourda and he bowled lightning fast, it was like nothing I had never faced before then when I went into First-Class cricket I faced a spell from Fidel Edwards with the second new ball that was also really fast.
As I played more first-class and Test cricket I never found any bowler who was lightning fast or unplayable as those guys in those moments when I was younger. There is Guyana’s Nail Smith and Bajan Chemar Holder who bowled fast this season,” said Vishaul who revealed that the best spinners he has faced from the West Indies are “Rakeem Cornwall and Veerasammy Permaul, when conditions are favourable for them, they are a nightmare to face,” stated Vishaul.
The GCC Captain feels that a lot of factors have to be taken into account for the improvement of local club cricket.
“Finance, practice and all-weather facilities…. once we can have those kind of things in place, club cricket will improve dramatically. A bit more emphasis has to be placed on the grass roots level. Identify a feeder system and what we want to feed our National System…school cricket or club cricket at the youth level, but these things are for the Administrators to do,” said Vishaul who wants to get involved in Coaching when his career in over. He is a level 2 Coach and says he intends to do level 3 soon.
“There are a lot of challenges playing cricket in Guyana, lack of finance, facilities, standard of grounds, pitches and umpires, all these things could be improved on. But if you can name something that can directly impact your development its pitches, whether it’s match or practice pitches. I guess that would could come down to clubs not having the money to pay a full time groundsman and then again having someone with specialist skills to prepare quality pitches” Vishaul lamented.
“Cricket takes up a lot of my time but when I get weekends off I love to go fishing and spend time with my family and son,” added Vishaul.
He thanked his dad who taught him all the basics as he was growing up, Ragoonath for the role he played in T&T, Sarwan who he grew up alongside and helped him mentally, technically and provided him with gear, Leon Johnson who organised for him to get a contract in England, the late Dr Harold Dhanraj at GCC and later Guyana Jaguars Coaches Esuan Crandon and his Assistant Rayon Griffith.

 

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