Griffith hails GCB for playing role in development

– impressed with growth of Jaguars

By Clifton Ross

Rayon Griffith, the Guyana Jaguars /West Indies ‘A’ Team Coach hailed the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) for aiding in his stride from a club to international trainer.
Griffith, who returned from a successful series One-Day series win against the England Lions, served as Manager as well as Assistant Coach. The former Guyana pacer formed the Management Unit along with; Floyd Reifer (Head Coach), Roddy Estwick (Assistant Coach), Khevyn Williams (Physiotherapist), Gregory Seale (Strength & Conditioning Coach) and Dinesh Mahabir (Analyst).
During an exclusive interview with Guyana Times Sport on Friday, the 4-time Four-Day winning coach said that he was thankful for the support he had been receiving from the GCB and Cricket Guyana Inc. (CGI), the entity which the Guyana Jaguars Franchise governed by.

“I’m very thankful to the GCB and CGI for being there since 2012, they gave me an opportunity to do coaching and eventually management for the franchise. I think that really helped me and helped me to develop and continue to develop and play that part by pushing forward and going on to the highest level”, said Griffith.
Coach of Guyana National Industrial Corporation (GNIC) club, the 39 year-old said that he was pleased with the exposure he has been receiving since his journey as Chairman of the Senior National Selectors back in 2013. “That (GCB’s/CGI’s support) played a key part in my transition from being a club coach, then a coach for Guyana and then I went on to the West Indies team”.
He added that with his international exposure increasing he’s eyeing a future role with the Windies senior team; something he said will help him to help his players as well as other players around the Caribbean. “I’m pushing myself to achieve that (Windies senior team coaching role) I always like to be busy and do new things so it is one of the things I want to achieve”, Griffith said.
Speaking about the West Indies ‘A’ team’s success following their win over England Lions a few days ago; Griffith who has had numerous stints with the ‘A’ team in the past, it was good to see the pieces falling into place and players stepping up against the competition.
“I’ve been a part of the West Indies A team before, so I know some of the player’s majority of them played in games before. It was a good experience for me because I get to understand the players more and I enjoy working around them as well as the entire coach/management staff”.
He continued, “Credit however must go to the players, the environment was set up well and their ethics were great they have good values and they were free and enjoyed their cricket when they went into the game. Winning both series was good for them, it’s not something we do often in West Indies cricket and seeing them win shows that they we really up for it and they enjoyed every bit of it.
Thanks to their top performances in the 2017-18 Professional Cricket League (PCL) season, many Guyana Jaguars players were drafted into the Windies senior or A teams. As such newbies Romario Shepherd, Chandrapaul Hemraj and Keemo Paul who was further drafted into the 50 over team; joined Test all-rounder Raymon Reifer in the Lions series.
The Guyana Jags assistant coach emphasized that he was impressed by not only his Guyanese players but the cricketers from around the region. “It was good to see the guys from Guyana as well as the other countries given an opportunity. Paul, Keon Joseph, Shepherd, Reifer, Vishaul Singh who played 4-day, it was wonderful to see them making strides and players getting opportunity”.
“I think the Regional One day series helped us too, especially without opening bowlers because for many years we have been opening with spin, so it shows that they have gotten the opportunity and showed progress. I think Paul was impressive throughout the one day tourney, he’s a player if you watch cricket he makes you want to watch and he has gained many fans over the year so it’s good to see him play for Guyana then the A team the West Indies senior team in the same year”, he professed.
The former West Indies B player said that apart from the strides and performances by the players who have been in the Windies A side he was more so impressed by the way they youngsters handled the pressures of international cricket.
“In terms of encouraging them, we normally just tell them it’s cricket and it’s just bat and ball. It’s about thinking at that level, you must have skill but it all comes down to how smart you are in terms of thinking”.
Concluding his interview, Griffith lauded his A team players for putting their hands up against a strong Lions side. “I would like to highlight Jomel Warrican and Rakeem Cornwall who bowled exceptionally well. I also think the skipper Kieran Powell handled the team well.