NY Tri State U-15 Coach disappointed with bad weather

Mar 27, 2021 Sports

By Sean Devers

The Bourda ground under water after the heavy rain.

When the New York Tri State U-15 team from the USA arrived here on Thursday afternoon to begin their 11-game tour to Guyana they were greeted by sweltering heat and bright sunshine.

Linden Fraser

Back in the day, a Calypsonian belted out “every time yuh talk about cricket water comes from the sky and if yuh buy season ticket water comes from your eye” and that rings true even now.
Some say it’s superstition, some call it coincidence but whatever you think it is, the 13 anxious teenagers who arrived here for the first time from the States, would say this is so true.
However, heavy overnight and early morning rain, left the world famous GCC ground Bourda and most of the City, under water, resulting in their tour opener set for that venue, being cancelled.
Head Coach, former Guyana First-Class fast bowler Linden Fraser, the only Guyanese in a team of predominantly Indians and Pakistanis, spoke about what they had to do during the pandemic and the help provided by the immigration officers when arrived here.
Fraser also spoke about the disappointment of yesterdays washed out game, the strength of his team and what they want to get out of this.
The team’s Captain, Nayan Elamurugan, also said he is looking forward to gaining experience from this trip.
“Getting into Guyana…everything went well, immigration and everyone were very helpful. We had to follow all Covid-19 guidelines while everyone had to receive a negative result within 72 hours of the flight,” explained Coach Fraser.
Fraser disclosed that the youngsters are extremely disappointed since they are all hungry to play cricket.
“The Kids were preparing for the past four weeks. After our team meeting on Thursday night they went to bed early … saying Coach we have to get enough rest to start our campaign well. Seeing the rain pouring on the ground they asked, ‘Coach how long will the ground take to dry?” said Fraser, who played one Shell Shield match for Guyana in 1984.
Fraser believes that the strength of the team is its bowling with a mixture of seam and spinners… both left-arm and right arm spinners.
“After only having to play on matting within the USA, seeing and playing on turf pitches, the excitement is all around, while playing against competitors of higher quality is great for our learning experience.
We’ll take everything back and put it into our game and share with the others back home. This will encourage others to tour and we thank the GCA for hosting this tour and we are hoping for an improvement in the weather,” said the Berbice born Fraser when asked how he thought this tour will help youth cricket in the US.
When asked if cricket is played in schools Fraser said New York leads the way with over 40 schools which play cricket in the New York area.
Fraser added that the New York Tri State youth cricket development will continue to improve under the leadership of President Lester Hooper, who is the younger brother of former Guyana and West Indies Captain Carl Hooper.
“I was defiantly looking forward to this trip and have been waiting for it for over a year. The most important thing I wanted to take away from this trip was the experience from playing on different pitches as well as enjoying the touring experience as a team,” said Skipper Elamurugan.
According to the GCA the NY Tri State team’s weekend matches have been cancelled.

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