Coach Crandon hoping to see improved mindset from Guyana Harpy Eagles

By Brandon Corlette

Guyana Harpy Eagles suffered one defeat and recorded one win after two rounds in the West Indies Regional Four-Day Championships. The tournament will resume in May with the final three rounds, but the Guyana Harpy Eagles have resumed training.

Head Coach
Esuan Crandon

Head Coach Esuan Crandon has said he is hoping to see a change of attitude in contrast to a change in personnel. During a recent interview with this daily publication, Crandon also said he is hoping to see batsmen convert starts and score centuries.
“If any changes, I want to see change of attitude! I am looking from that perspective, I am not looking at personnel at the moment, I am looking for a mindset shift, you want the guys to inculcate the right attitude, the right temperament for Four-Day cricket, you want them to be a bit more hungry, and more determined and disciplined. I am looking forward to seeing that before we recommence in May,” Crandon has said.

Vishaul Singh is the leading batsman with 143 runs

Speaking about the positives from the Harpy Eagles season, Crandon said: “From a positive side, we won our first game. It was very close, the guys fought hard at the end. Permaul and Smith’s partnership at the end took us over the line. Not too many positives. I thought Keemo Paul bowled really well, Permaul and Motie would have done well, the track did not really assist them a great deal, I thought they were patient at times and put the ball in good areas.”
The Guyana Harpy Eagles’ batting has been poor. Vishaul Singh is the leading batsman with 143 runs. He has a high-score of 93, and averages 35.75. Anthony Bramble has 129 runs, and Chandrapaul Hemraj has 124 runs. Coach Crandon noted that there was not a lot of bright sparks in the batting department.
“Hemraj scored two half-centuries. Ideally, I would have wanted him to go and score a big century. Vishaul Singh scored 90-odd, Paul had a decent all-round game in the first match. Not too many positives to take from that, apart from the ones I would have mentioned.
“I thought we did not stick to our plans really well. We were not disciplined to bat out four sessions like we would have wanted to bat minimum, and the results did not go our way because we were not disciplined enough as a batting group to bat long and spend a lot of time at the crease.”
As the preparation continues, the Harpy Eagles are focused on developing the mental aspect of the game. “The focus is to see how best we can develop the players skills-set. To see how we can help them think better, strengthen their mental skill-set to see how they can think and focus for longer periods, and obviously cover all the ground. We do not want to leave any stone unturned, we want to continue to put in the good quality work for the next four to six weeks, so a lot of focus will be on developing the skills and also on the mental aspect of things,” Crandon explained.
Defending champions Barbados Pride are table leaders with 42 points, while Trinidad and Tobago Red Force are on 38.6 points. Both of these teams have won both of their matches. Leeward Islands Hurricanes are in third position with 24.6 points, with one win and a defeat; while Guyana Harpy Eagles are in fourth with 21.4 points, with one win and a defeat.
Windward Islands Volcanoes are in fifth with 10.8 points, and Jamaica Scorpions are in sixth with 8.8 points. Both of these teams are yet to register a win.