President of the Everest Cricket Club (ECC), Rajesh Singh has expressed his satisfaction at the success of the Guyana Jaguars in the ongoing Digicel Regional Four-Day Tournament and the input from his club mates to date.
“As a club, we the executives and members are happy with the contribution of our guys [Everest players] and the overall progress of the Guyana franchise,” Singh told Guyana Times Sport.
The club which is based in Georgetown, has produced six players to the national team this season a feat that the entire membership is extremely proud of, according to the longstanding executive. “At the start of the season we had young Bhaskar [Yadram] and Test opener, [Rajendra] Chandrika who missed out in the later rounds but the four we have now have been putting their hands up which is very important to the team,” Singh stated.
From left: Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Akshaya Persaud
Of the players in the current squad, Chandrapaul Hemraj who began the season in the middle order is now partnering his Everest club mate, Tagenarine Chanderpaul to open the batting. After six matches, Hemraj has so far scored 328 runs with three scores over 50 with his best knock of 79 coming against the Barbados Pride at Providence in round five. He is the third highest run scorer for the defending champions behind Vishaul Singh (458) and Leon Johnson (367) while Tagenarine is just behind him on 312 runs also from six matches. The younger Chanderpaul also has three half centuries with his best knock of 84 coming against Trinidad and Tobago Red Force at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in round four.
The other player who is also making a heavy impact is Shivnarine Chanderpaul who is one of four centurions for the Jaguars this season. The experienced left-hander who is sixth on the runs chart with 216 runs from four matches saved the three-time defending champions from defeat against the Leeward Islands Hurricanes with a second innings century, 109 at Warner Park in round three. In the last match against the Windward Islands Volcanoes, when all of the other batsmen fell cheaply, the 43-year compiled a fighting 56 to give the Jaguars a lead on first innings which turned out to be crucial in the match that ended in a dramatic tie.
The fourth player in the squad is Akshaya Persaud who is yet to make his debut.
Seventeen-year-old Bhaskar Yadram recently flew out to St. Kitts where he is part of the West Indies Under 19 squad preparing for their title defence in Youth World Cup in January in New Zealand while his compatriot from Enterprise village on the East Coast of Demerara, Chandrika was dropped after scoring 67 matches from two matches.
The Guyana Jaguars next assignment is their return match against the Leeward Islands Hurricanes beginning in Thursday at Providence.
