Major revamp in Jaguars’ Super50 squad on the cards

– “You will see a different Guyana one-day squad” – Chairman of Selectors

By Akeem Greene

Since the 2005 KFC Cup Guyana has not won a Regional 50-over title which begs the question “What have they been doing wrong?” Is it the quality of the players? Or is it simply down to bad luck? Is it the lack of preparation?
The answer to one of these questions should be known come the next regional tournament since according to Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Chairman of Selectors, Rayon Griffith some major changes in personnel will occur.
“I know for the past couple of years, things were not going in our favour but I think come this year you will see a different Guyana one-day squad, different quality. A bunch of guys who you will see ready to play One-day cricket,” Griffith said in an exclusive interview with Guyana Times Sport on Wednesday.
The Guyana Jaguars Regional Super50 squad in 2016 comprised of Leon Johnson (Captain), Veerasammy Permaul (Vice-Captain), Anthony Bramble (wicketkeeper), Shimron Hetmyer, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Christopher Barnwell, Raymon Reifer, Rajendra Chandrika, Steven Jacobs, Assad Fudadin, Devendra Bishoo, Ronsford Beaton, Paul Wintz, and Jonathan Foo. That squad failed to reach the semi-finals after being placed in a group B alongside eventual champions Barbados Pride, Jamaica Scorpions, ICC Americas and Combined Campuses and Colleges Marooners. The only teams they defeated were the latter two.

Playing all of their matches in Barbados, Johnson was the highest run scorer with 243 runs at an average of 40.50. Chanderpaul (101) scored the only century for the team. With the ball, left-arm Barbadian-born seamer Raymon Reifer led the charge with 16 wickets at an economy rate of 4.89.
With the exception of Foo, Beaton and Wintz that squad mirrored those who would have played in the Regional four-day – a tournament they have now won for three consecutive years.
Griffith was questioned whether these ‘changes’ meant they adapt the concept of ‘horses for courses’.
“Definitely. Some of the guys who play the four-day are in the one-day squad consistently and what you find because of the bad weather we have had, for many years you never get to see everyone and sometimes as selectors it puts us under pressure to select a team but sometimes you go for guys who may be in-form but definitely you will see horses of course this year,” the former First-Class player posited.
The cause of concern lies not only with the squad but the fact since December 2015 when Lower Corentyne won the Jaguars’ franchise league there has not been another national 50-over competition. There was one slated for January 2017 ahead of the regional tournament but that was postponed due to bad weather. It is understood that another was slated for August this year but that still is yet to come to fruition.
Conscious of these issues, the selector explained they are trying to have a tournament played. “The board is having plans. We are trying to get a competition going. We are already drilling some of the players in terms of white ball cricket.”
The tightened regional 4-day competition which commences on October 26 is expected to conclude on January 21, paving the way for the regional Super50.