After copping the runner-up spot in the Cyril Bonar Memorial T20 Cricket Tournament, the Rising Stars cricket captain, Elroy Fernandes is pleased with his team’s performance as it was their first outing in the tournament. They were able to defeat top teams such as the UG Trojans and Satro CC.
Rising Stars Captain Elroy Fernandes
In an interview with Guyana Times Sport, when asked how he felt about the result of the game, Fernandes said, “For us it’s a great opportunity; we played against players that played for Guyana and even those that are currently selected to play franchise cricket. For a team on the West Demerara whereby the selector or chairman has never called to a franchise and to see the amount of talent that we have; we feel we have been victimised. Nevertheless, it was a tremendous feeling competing in the finals and to see what we can accomplish as a team. I am positive that the mistakes that we made this year we will not be making next year, as we will be coming for the trophy. I know that for a team that isn’t recognised in Guyana, we have lots of talent and I’m am confident that we will soon produce players that are worthy to represent Guyana at all levels of cricket.”
Fernandes also went on to state that he was ecstatic that the team was able to produce the two best bowlers in the tournament – Marvin Cheong, Shane Persaud and Shaquille Brisport, who was the Most Valuable Player (MVP). He noted that one of the things that the team would have to work on is the amount of dot balls used and rotation in strike, as that was the key factor they lacked in the finals. He also relayed that come 2020 the competition will feature six Guyanese teams as the stakes will be raised to $500,000.
In closing, Fernandes said, “I’d like to thank Sachin Singh for helping us out with the wicket, Marvin Cheong for making the trip possible, Ravi Bharrat, and the entire team for making our journey the success it has been.”
