“I am ready for regional cricket”- Carmichael

By Delvon Mc Ewan

As the old saying goes, “No one has the power to shatter your dreams unless you give it to them” and at 27 years old, talented Guyanese all-rounder Kellon Carmichael is not prepared to give anyone the opportunity to shatter his dream of playing First Class cricket.

The former national youth player is still vying for his first senior national call up that has for so long evaded him. The nifty all-rounder has remained a constant performer over the year thus he is optimistic that his opportunity comes in the near future.

Recently the right arm medium fast bowler had a stellar outing as a guest player with Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) in the University of the West Indies T20 Tournament in Trinidad and Tobago where he outfoxed batsmen with his cunning variation and accuracy that at most times make it difficult for batsmen to rotate the strike.

In the five matches Carmichael played, he was DCC’s most economical bowler as he stifled the scoring rate, creating pressure on batsmen especially in the middle overs. In total he conceded 92 runs from 20 overs at a remarkable economy rate of 4.6 runs per over from his five matches while grabbing five wickets during the process. The Malteenoes Sports Club (MSC) player was particularly spectacular in the quarter finals where he bowled four overs for nine runs against Trinidad and Tobago Police Sports Club and the finals against Cane Farm where he ended with 1-10 from four overs- a spell that included a maiden over to West Indies player and T20 superstar Lendl Simmons. In his only two knocks in the tournament, Carmichael made 14 not out in a group match and a cameo of 34 from 20 balls in the final.

Probably among the fittest players on the local scene and regarded as one of the best seam bowlers by his colleagues and counterparts, Carmichael simply applies the basics with a few tricks to get his work done. However, it took some time to get to such standard and that is evident in his work ethics, which include at least 10 miles of running per week, hundreds of push-ups, constant spot bowling and the urge to get this done from Monday-Friday each week.

According to Carmichael hard work garners reward, however, his reward seem to be taking a lengthy process that he believes will be manifested soon and although there are questions in regards to him not getting an opportunity, he said he cannot hand pick a reason why he is not being considered.

Nevertheless, he confident he is ready to play at the regional level; “Yes I think I am ready for regional cricket and I have been for a while because since my senior inter county debut in 2008 I’ve been a consistent performer mainly with the ball because of the composition of the teams I’ve batted way down the order…. looking at the recently concluded UWI T20 I was bowling against Evin Lewis and Lendl Simmons at a time when they had 100 in about 8 overs and still managed to bowl a maiden to Simmons and only concede 10 runs from my allotted 4 overs and I came back with the bat and gave a good account of myself against Ravi Rampaul, Roshan Primus, Jon-Ross Jaggessar and Rayad Emrit who are all first class and West Indies bowlers.”

Apart from the recent UWI T20 tournament, Carmichael featured for Georgetown in the Jaguars Franchise League last year where he was successful with the ball and contributed with the bat in desperate situations. He also plays professional cricket in Trinidad and Tobago and England. However, for most of 2015 and the entire 2016 he sacrificed his main means of income to hopefully get into the local academy, but that move worked against him.

So the all-rounder will return to professional cricket but will continue to participate in local Leagues with the hope of ascending to regional cricket. Late last year Goring Cricket Club in the Sussex Premier League locked in a deal with Carmichael for the 2017 season campaign which is set to get underway in April.

Until then Carmichael will continue as the head coach for Malteenoes junior players at the Thomas Lands club.