Cricket West Indies’ (CWI’s) Regional Under-17 tournament — a 50-over affair slated to run from July 6 to July 13 — will be played in Trinidad and Tobago; thus the Guyana Under-17 team has commenced training and team bonding with a four-day camp.
Team Guyana Under-17 on their first training session at the National Stadium at Providence (Brandon Corlette photos)
Speaking exclusively with Guyana Times Sport at their first training session on Saturday, June 29, at the Guyana National Stadium at Providence, EBD, Team Manager Nazeer Mohammed declared this a well-balanced team.
With the players being informed about their selection since Monday last, Mohammed said, the camp commenced with a group meeting at the La Bonne Intention (LBI) facility where they are encamped; and this was followed by an intense fielding session spearheaded by Coach Orin Bailey at the National Stadium at Providence.
Because the rain was threatening a deluge, Mohammed said the players would return to the LBI facility and get some batting drills done in the indoor net facility.
“We are supposed to have one or two practice matches. Hopefully, the weather stays faithful to us”, he declared.
Mohammed said the team is well balanced, and has given a good account of itself, especially in the highly competitive Hand-in-Hand Under-19 tournament.
“A lot of these guys have an understanding of the basics (that are required) in (playing) cricket,” he declared. “We have some very good players, and hopefully they can make Guyana proud this year,” he observed.
Coach Orin Bailey explained that this camp would focus on the fitness of each player in the 14-member squad. Refusing to disclose the composition of the squad at this time, Bailey explained that the fitness level of the team must be acceptable to allow for competition at the Regional level of cricket.
“Previously, we had been losing games because the guys were not match-ready” Bailey told this reporter.
The Guyana Under-17 team played as the Select Under-17 team in the Inter-County U-19 tournament, and Bailey said he feels that break from action was a long one.
Thirteen of the 14-member squad are currently in training as they await the arrival of Matthew Nandu, who resides in Canada. He was among the top performers in the Inter-County Under-17 tourney, and gave a decent account of himself in the Under-19 Inter-County tournament. Nandu has been drafted into the Global T20 League in Canada by Vancouver Knights, the team for which Chris Gayle plays.
The Guyana Under-17 team currently comprises most of the players who had played in the Select Under-17 team during the Under-19 inter-county tournament. Some of those players are: left-handed opener and spinner Nandu, middle order batsman and off-spinner Sarwan Chaitnarine, middle order batsman Marvan Prashad, West Indies Under-15 wicket-keeper/batsman Mavindra Dindyal, fast bowling all-rounder Sheldon Charles, left-arm spinner Chanderpaul Ramraj, Azizi Christiani, leg-spinner Niran Bissu, left-handed batsman Andre Seepersaud, and former Guyana Under-15 captain Zeynul Ramsammy.
Led by Sachin Singh in 2018, the Guyana Under-17 team had finished in third position in the Regional tournament; while Barbados, who had tipped the hosts, are defending champions.
