Adams still in Guyana’s senior team plans despite being axed – selectors clear the air

By Brandon Corlette

The non-selection of Antony Adams to the Guyana Harpy Eagles team has certainly been the buzz around the Guyanese cricketing population.
On what was deemed a rare occasion for Guyanese media, the Guyana Harpy Eagles selectors made an appearance to face questions at a media interaction, and Lead Selector Ravindranauth Seeram and Selector/Manager Albert Smith disclosed that Adams was still part of the Harpy Eagles plan.
“What happen is that we were given a timeline to select the team. We selected the team on Friday, January 20. Antony Adams got his four wickets after the team was selected. Based on that, we saw [Ashmead] Nedd bowling pretty well, chances were given off him. That is the reason why Nedd was selected,” Seeram said.
During the two Guyana Harpy Eagles trial matches, Adams had six wickets, while Nedd picked up three wickets, but as Seeram noted, the team was selected before Adams had claimed four wickets in the final innings.
“Nedd had bowled pretty well. Adams had two wickets prior to the selection of the team, and I think that was the call that was made. Adams is not the best role as a spinner.”
Nedd, who played with the West Indies Academy in Antigua last year, has shown his ability to pick up important wickets. Gudakesh Motie will play for West Indies in Zimbabwe in the current two-Test series. When asked if Adams’s experience would have been important, Seeram said: “We thought about that. Nedd was bowling pretty well, he is a West Indies Emerging Player as well. That has given him a chance to get into the side.”
Meanwhile, Smith said: “With the Nedd issue: [the factors were] the weather we had, the limited cricket we had, and Nedd having played with the regional 50-over, when he would have been exposed already to some of the regional batsmen. And as manager what I would have seen in the last few series, is that the bowlers, even the top bowlers, Motie and [Veerasammy] Permaul, the control and consistent control in Four-day, you need someone who can lock down and Nedd has established that in his bowling.”
Smith also noted that Nedd created a lot of chances when he was bowling in the trial matches. “He was on top of his control. When we people get wickets, as selectors we have to look at the quality of the bowling, the quality of the batsmen you got out. Many times when you had partnerships, Nedd came in and pegged away and you got results. Sometimes, he got a dropped catch. At the level he was and then being in the loop with West Indies cricket, we had to make a decision on that. We thought it would have been better to the man coming up there,” he said.
As it relates to Adams’s future in Guyana cricket, the selectors responded positively, noting that Adams is still one of the best spinners in Guyana.
“Well, of course, it was said to him many years, most of the times he has been around and did not get a chance. Adams needs to be talked to. Yes, he is still part [of]…. Guyana’s set-up. Adams is one of the better spinners after Motie and Permaul.”
The Guyana Harpy Eagles will play against Barbados Pride from February 1 at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua in the West Indies championships.