NBS 2nd Division 40-over cricket
Following their defeat to DCC in the first division by the remarkable heroics of Guyana’s very own Christopher Barnwell, the University of Guyana Trojans will have to face their old foes in one of the semi-finals of the New Building Society (NBS) Second Division 40-over tourney at Demerara Cricket Club (DCC), starting at 10:30h on Saturday.
With the team returning from the second Cyril Bonar Memorial T20 Cricket Competition and placing second in the tournament that they competed in for the first time, the student side will be ready for DCC as they have played cricket against formidable opponents in Suriname and can be counted as experienced. The Trojans secured a spot in the finals, but lost to the host side, so they are thirsty for victory.
Speaking with Guyana Times Sport, Coach of the University of Guyana side, Kenroy Joseph stated that DCC’s Second Division team, however, should not be taken lightly, as the Queenstown-based side will be boosted with players from the National U-19 group such as Raymond Perez, Joshua Persaud, Sachin Singh, Qumar Torrington and Ashmead Nedd, who have all been outstanding and may pose a serious threat. He also stated that even though DCC would be boosted, the University side would have a boost of their own in key players such as Captain Melroy Stephenson, Linden Austin, Lloyd George, Suresh Dhanai, Damion Vantull and Dwayne Dodson as they plan to exact revenge on the Second Division side for what occurred in the First Division.
Joseph said, “The guys are all focused on the task at hand, we know beating DCC isn’t easy, but we will accomplish it, our in-form pacer Ray Newton is currently doing treatment on his index finger as he had picked up a sprain in the recently-concluded tour of Suriname, but I’m confident that he will be cleared for this weekend’s semi-final.”
For his part, Stephenson said that as captain of the side he was mostly pleased with the preparations, but he was trying to ensure an injury-free team so when they face the Queenstown side they would be at full capacity.
He noted, “The guys performed admirably in Suriname without the likes of a few key players, such as Damion Vantull who is a huge boost for us, in light of such I don’t see any opposition locally having the pedigree to topple us and moving forward.”
When asked about the team’s recent First Division defeat, the Captain said, “Our team consists of quite a few seasoned players. They all understood toppling DCC in a First Division match at DCC wasn’t going to be easy. We played out of our skins, they were somewhat disappointed, but just praising them for the effort that was put into that performance was enough to motivate them and has made the entire team hungry for further success.”
Stephenson also said that it should be noted that while other teams have star players, the Trojans try not to promote individual talent but what could be done as an entire unit together and this has led to their many successes. He declared that he was aware that DCC boasted many prominent U-19 talents, but he was prepared for them. He believes once the ball is placed in the right areas and chances that present themselves are capitalised upon, the DCC players can be limited to a paltry score and once the Trojans batsmen apply themselves, they would come out victorious.
The squad representing the student side is as follows:
M Stephenson(Captain);L Austin; D George; M Persaud; E Alli; O Danram; L George; R Newton; S Dhanai; B Singh; N Bollers; G Matthews; P Persaud; D Dodson; D Heywood and D Vantull. (Timothy Jaikarran)
