The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Regional Super50 commences on January 24 and will be played in two zones in two countries. The Guyana Jaguars will play their preliminary matches in Barbados against the home side, Barbados Pride, Jamaica Scorpions, CCC Marooners and ICC Americas while Zone A consists of defending champions Trinidad and Tobago Red Force, Windward Islands Volcanoes, Leeward Islands Hurricanes, English County side Kent Spit Fires and World Under-19 Champions West Indies.
Albeit, the pitches in Barbados are not historically know to be conducive for spin bowling, West Indies leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo is of the view that himself along with fellow spinners Veerasammy Permaul and Steven Jacobs have big roles to play for the Jaguars in the Regional Super50.
Speaking to the media at the National stadium, Providence, the spinner posited, “We have a very big role to play, me and [Veerasammy] Permaul have been doing well over the years and as senior spinners we need to lead by example, we need to do well and get wickets at the crucial times.”
Devendra BishooVeerasammy Permaul along with Bishoo is expected to play a crucial role in the middle overs (Marceano Narine Photo)
Although their bowling needs to do well, the wrist spinner who has a best of 6-36 in 39 List A matches firmly believes that the team’s batting needs to come good this year in order for them to secure the title.
“The batting needs to do well this year because over the years we have not being doing well, this is a very important year for our batsmen to do well” he said.
The Berbician, who did not play in last year’s tournament due to West Indies commitments, will not have any interruptions this year and hopes that he can help the Jaguars break the title jinx.
“I’m pretty happy, I’m very comfortable with the boys, I’m excited to play, it is a big one for me and I’m hoping to come good for the 11 years we have not, so everyone is looking forward to do well and put on good show in this tournament” disclosed the former ICC emerging player of the year.
The right-arm bowler is planning to use the tournament to resurrect his One Day International (ODI) career after playing his 14th ODI match last November, a presence he did not feel since 2011.
The 31 year-old revealed , “I wanted to play One-day cricket a while, I played one ODI last year and I want to be there, I want to keep playing one -day cricket and I want to do well in this tournament and get wickets so I can finish on a high.”
In the first leg, Jaguars will play Pride on January 24, Scorpions on January 26, Marooners on January 28, and ICC Americas on January 30.
In the second leg, the Guyana-based franchise takes on the Marooners February 3, Pride on February 5, Scorpions on February 7, and ICC Americas on February 9.
The semi-finals would be on February 15 and 16 while the final would be on February 18 in Antigua.
The full squad reads: Leon Johnson (Captain), Veerasammy Permaul (Vice-Captain), Anthony Bramble (wicketkeeper), Shimron Hetmyer, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Christopher Barnwell, Raymon Reifer, Rajendra Chandrika, Steven Jacobs, Assad Fudadin, Ronsford Beaton, Paul Wintz, Jonathan Foo and Devendra Bishoo.
