In yet another change to the squad of the Guyana Jaguars team that departed Guyanese shores for Jamaica since Monday, Gudakesh Motie and Akshaya Persaud came in as newcomers to the 13-man squad for the sixth-round match against hosts Scorpions, starting on Thursday, February 27.
Gudakesh Motie
Motie replaced Devendra Bishoo while Persaud earned his place in the squad after Shimron Hetmyer passed his fitness test and was set to return to maroon colours for the T20 matches.
Motie, who played the last of his 28 First-Class matches in February 2019 against Windward Islands Volcanoes, is the third spinner in the squad that features veteran spinner Veerasammy Permaul and promising off-spinner Kevin Sinclair.
In contrast, Persaud has played only two First-Class matches, with his last match being played in January 2018. The lad from West Demerara had also featured in the Combined Campuses and Colleges team in the Regional Super50 Cup last season. This 13-man squad was announced on Tuesday afternoon, but the reason(s) for Bishoo’s absence were not indicated.
Tevin Imlach, who featured in the squad in previous rounds, has not played this season and has been left out of the 13-man squad.
Jaguars are having a mixed season in terms of results. They have recorded two wins and two defeats while playing to a draw in their last fixture against the Volcanoes. In terms of points, Jaguars have 60.8 points while Barbados Pride are flying high with 84.2 points. Jaguars’ next opponents, Scorpions are sitting in third position with 57.4 points.
Despite Jaguars drawing their last encounter, two centuries were scored: Christopher Barnwell and Leon Johnson filling the century void. Barnwell leads the batting table with 372 runs while Johnson has 325 runs. Tagenarine Chanderpaul has an aggregate of 275 while his fellow opener, Chandrapaul Hemraj has 247 runs. Leading wicket-keeper Anthony Bramble has exactly 200 runs in the season thus far. In the bowling department, Permaul has 30 wickets while exciting fast bowler Nial Smith has 19 scalps. Keon Joseph has 12 wickets while Raymon Reifer has nine victims in the season thus far.
Guyana Jaguars 13-man squad reads: Leon Johnson (Captain); Vishaul Singh; Anthony Bramble; Chandrapaul Hemraj; Tagenarine Chanderpaul; Christopher Barnwell; Akshaya Persaud; Raymon Reifer; Kevin Sinclair; Veerasammy Permaul; Gudakesh Motie; Keon Joseph and Nial Smith. (Brandon Corlette)
