By Akeem Greene
With three consecutive Cricket West Indies (CWI) four-day championship titles and currently edging towards a fourth, Guyana Jaguars have made a remarking turnaround with the red-ball.
Prior to their title in the 2014/2015 season when the championship became a professional cricket league (PCL), Guyana would have won in 1997/98 by virtue of a shared the title with Leeward Islands.
Their success according to Assistant Coach Rayon Griffith is the relaxed environment created which nurtures success. Despite winning has become the mantra of the Jaguars, the coach has cautioned the players of becoming overconfident.
“It is good to have confidence but you don’t want to be too over confident; you need to be humble but have the confidence to enjoy the cricket and that is what we do, we try to let the players be in a relaxed environment where they can express themselves”, Griffith told Guyana Times Sport on Tuesday after a training session at the National Stadium.
Regarding the unsettling debate on whether Jaguars have truly earned their stripes as a regional powerhouse given that other franchises would have weakened teams due to vital players being on West Indies duty, Griffith contended that his team has learned from mistakes and grown tremendously. It has resonated with Jaguars only losing thrice in 34 matches of the PCL to date.
“If you look back at some of the teams they were some of these same guys playing five years ago when Guyana was at the bottom of the table but we have improved our cricket and learn to play smarter. The guys are always willing to learn and the camp is conducive for that learning”, the former national player stated.
Jaguars have recently returned home after crushing Trinidad and Tobago Red Force by an innings and 217 runs which has significantly extended their lead on the points table.
Now they face the test of Barbados Pride from Thursday at Providence, a clash Griffith is eager to dominate.
“Every game we play, we want to dominate and we want to send a message. The Barbados team might not be the strongest among the teams but we still have to play good cricket so we could overcome them”
Inspirational captain Leon Johnson returning to this run-feast mode, and young Tagenarine Chanderpaul getting in on the act as well, are positive signs which enthuses the assistant coach.
“The positives are that the top order clicked because we have been struggling at the top since the beginning of the tournament. I know that if the top-order clicked we would put a big total and it was shown. It was good to see the captain get the some runs and lift his confidence has lift along with that of Tagenarine [Chanderpaul].”
He added, “the youngsters are coming to the forth, Sherfane [Rutherford] has grown a lot with both and bat. All the youngsters are willing to learn. The team is strong team and we had to put [Chandrapaul] Hemraj who has been doing well at three to open the batting but he didn’t click as yet. I and hope he comes along well and score more runs”.
The three-time champions returns to Providence today where they continue training ahead of their first round clash on Thursday.
