“We are very hungry for success” says captain Emrit

Hero Caribbean Premier League 2017

… as Warriors depart, hunting for spot in finals

By Akeem Greene

Guyana Amazon Warriors departed these shores on Sunday afternoon with one ultimate goal — to win their two remaining matches and hopefully secure a spot in the 2017 finals of the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
Captain Rayad Emrit, in addressing the media at the Eugene F. Correia International Airport, emphasized the Warriors’ will to succeed and keep their record of qualifying for all finals in the five years of the league.
“We are very hungry for success after losing the first two home matches, and to see the crowd still come in their numbers, we know that the entire nation is behind us and we want to do something special for them”, the all-rounder posited.
He added, “It is going to be tough for us, but we really want to do well. I think we have the squad to go all the way. As long as we do the basics right, there is no doubt we can qualify for the second round”.
The Warriors will confront the Barbados Tridents on Tuesday and then do battle with the Jamaica Tallawahs on Friday, hoping that other results go in their favour for them to book a spot in the top four.
With the loss of Martin Guptill to family commitments, Emrit knows the pressure that attends these matches.
“(They are) obviously two pressure matches. We have to win, since we have to qualify for the finals. Marty [Martin Guptill] has gone home, and we know the type of player he is, but Luke [Ronchi] is coming in, and he has the capability and experience to help fill that gap,” the captain has disclosed.

Given that they are three-time finalists, the stuttering start was quite surprising. Their losses came as a result of simply bad shot selection, but they looked a well-oiled unit their last two matches.
“It is just for us to continue the good cricket we have been playing the last two matches. The games that we lost was not smart cricket. We had two days off, trained really hard on the other two. We had (a) team building session which was organised by the owner, where we went to Essequibo, and it was very relaxing. So we are ready”, the Trinidadian disclosed.
The conditions at Kensington Oval and Sabina Park are expected to (be) the opposite (of what) the Warriors had become accustomed to in Guyana. In this regard, and the skipper has admitted, they will be willing to play “horses for causes”, given the prevailing conditions.
Guyana Amazon Warriors Full Squad: Rayad Emrit (captain), Sohail Tanveer, Chadwick Walton, Rashid Khan, Jason Mohammed, Steven Taylor, Veerasammy Permaul, Roshon Primus, Gajanand Singh, Assad Fudadin, Steven Jacobs, Keon Joseph, Steven Katwaroo, Keemo Paul, Muhammad Ali Khan, Luke Ronchi.