Persaud eager for resumption of cricket after COVID-19

By Timothy Jaikarran

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant effect on everyone since its existence, and the world has accordingly been plagued.

Travis Persaud of the McGill Superstars cricket club has kept him out of the game he so loves for a longer period of time than he has ever had to refrain from playing. Speaking to this publication, Persaud said, “For the past 4 months, I played one competitive cricket match. It feels very uncommon to go through something like this, since I’m accustomed to training every day with the Guyana Jaguars and playing competitive club cricket on the weekends.
“Training independently has become an even bigger challenge now, because having pitch practice requires a relatively large group of people to participate, but because of the strict guidelines set in place by the relevant authorities, it prevents any match scenarios or pitch practice to take place.
“I have learned so much training with the Guyana Jaguars before the arrival of the COVID-19 virus, and it has moulded me into a better athlete. I was seeing the fruits of my hard labour, but it is a shame that, because of this pandemic, most of the training has ceased and there aren’t as many practice sessions as there usually were.
“The competitive nature of the guys within the Guyana Jaguars group is what I miss. It brings out the best in me. Having coaches like Esaun Crandon, Clive Grimmond, Julian Moore, Rayon Griffith, and Michael Franco Hyles usually make practice fun and competitive, and that is what I miss the most about training with them.”
Persaud disclosed that he has been doing independent training, mostly in the afternoons and in the nights, just to keep himself fit and ready for the resumption of cricket. He noted it is obvious that his main goal is to play Test cricket for the West Indies, but he wants to take things one step at a time. Persaud has said that playing first-class cricket for the Guyana Jaguars is next on his radar, and then he wants to go on to playing Test cricket.
Persaud relayed that he has been doing a lot of batting lately, batting in bowler-friendly conditions, he says, because any batsman can bat in batting-friendly conditions, but only the best thrive in bowler-friendly conditions.
While Persaud has focused his attention on other parts of the game, he has noticed an improvement in the mental aspect of his game relative to reading conditions while batting, and how to cope with them by analyzing scoring options.
“I do hope that all my supporters are safe and healthy as we speak,” he declared. “I just want to let them know that this is just a minor setback for me, and I am keenly awaiting the resumption of cricket, so that I can resume cricketing activities as usual and make everyone proud.
“I do also want to urge everyone to follow the COVID-19 guidelines set in place by the relevant authorities. Let’s all stay safe together,” he has appealed.