ike 2014 and 2015, last year was a remarkable one for Guyana’s cricket at both the senior and junior levels regionally.
Led by West Indies player Leon Johnson, Guyana Jaguars won the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB)/Professional Cricket League (PCL) 2015/2016 title for the second successive year while they were knocked out of the Super 50 tournament in the semifinal.
The juniors won the under-19 50 over titles for a third successive time. The U-15s and 17s finished second in their competitions. However, the under-17 did not lose a match but was affected by rain and was short by .3 fast bowling points.
The women’s T20 and 50 over tournament which was held in Guyana was hampered by rain and the host finished fifth in the latter version.
Nevertheless, Guyana was once again outstanding in WICB tournaments as they have been since 2014.
Guyana seniors won the inaugural PCL in 2014/2015 while they finished as runners up to Trinidad and Tobago in 2015 Super 50 tournament. They won the 2015 U-15 and 19 tournaments and finished in the top three for U-17.
With the given results, one would think that Guyana cricket is currently approaching the summit or it is already there and the GCB should be praised for good administrative works which are providing these outcomes.
Yes they should be praised for the performances at the Regional level but can we honestly say Guyana is producing quality players?
Although winning is important, we are doing the former but failing at the latter. Guyana’s cricket is not feeding West Indies teams. Since 2014/2015 Guyana has finished atop senior tournaments but has only produced one Test player (Rajendra Chandrika) while two others (Leon Johnson and Devendra Bishoo) have managed to regain selection. None of them have dominated at the international level.
At the junior level it is the same, Guyana would dominate tournaments but feed the junior West Indies team with (the most) three players, like was evident in the victorious West Indies U-19 team that played in the International Cricket Council (Youth World Cup).
Although it is important to win, Guyana’s cricket needs to produce players, who will be dominant on the international stage at the senior and junior levels.
There need to be a proper structure for cricket here, where players’ talent can be nurtured so they will be a force to reckon with regionally and internationally. For example if you look at the other Regional teams – Jamaica in recent times has produced Jermaine Blackwood for Test and Rovman Powell T20, Trinidad and Tobago – Evin Lewis for One Day Internationals while Barbados have Kraigg Braithwaite, Jason Holder, Carlos Braithwaite, Miguel Cummins and to a lesser extent Shai Hope. Those players have already shown great potential and are constantly on the lips of cricket pundits. The system in those territories is well-structured and it starts at school.
Unlike our counterparts approach, ours differ and our youth cricketers are seen by selectors mostly if not only during inter-county competitions. The Guyana under-15 team that won the WICB tournament in 2014 is a very talented unit and several players from that team once their talents are nurtured should elevate to the highest level. However, this seems far from reality as some of them already looks distant from their true ability, two years after.
The GCB National Secondary School Cricket League (NSSCL) lacks structure. It is in its second year and there are no pre-tournament programmes at the schools, it is a knockout tournament thus there is no scope for development of players, unless the authorities remedy it. Because of its structure, if the event continues for another five years, it will be dominated by Chase Academic Foundation, the winners of the inaugural event and the team destined to win the title when the tournament ends later this year.
In the past, cricket associations or the Board used to host academies or remedial camps to keep their cricketers intact, it is no longer the case. Particularly due to court orders against most of the boards. In 2008 under the Chetram Singh administration, a Guyana under-19 remedial camp was held for approximately one month to identify talent for the July-August 2009 regional U-19 tournament. That camp included Roger Harper and Michael Hyles.
There is a great need for such camp to earmark future talent and keep cricketers abreast with the necessary training to make them professionals.
Last year the GCB implemented the Jaguars League which to most is a good idea but that too was questioned by cricket stakeholders because of its structure and it was deemed as a watered-down version of a league.
Guyana is winning regional competitions, the Board is implementing leagues and there are other positives ongoing within the GCB but they are not producing top brand players because it could be a case of good initiatives but poor structure.
