West Indies 4-Day Championships: Three debutants set to play for Guyana Harpy Eagles

By Brandon Corlette in Antigua

Captain of the Guyana Harpy Eagles, Leon Johnson, has confirmed that at least three players will make their debuts against defending champions Barbados Pride at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.
Speaking exclusively with this daily publication in Antigua, Johnson has described the mood in the camp as good, despite ‘noise in the media’ during the past week.
In relation to the ‘noise in the media’, Johnson made a shocking revelation on the Mason and Guest radio programme when he said he saw the team on Facebook, and the Guyana selectors came out for the first time to make surprising calls in the media during a press conference.

“A lot has been out there during the past week, but we are professionals. Guys will put that behind them and work hard over the couple days. There should be at least three guys making their debut tomorrow, and guys are excited about that,” the skipper said.
The four newcomers in the squad are Matthew Nandu, Kemol Savory, Ashmead Nedd and Shamar Joseph. Guyana will be without last season centurions against Barbados Pride, Gudakesh Motie and Tagenarine Chanderpaul, both of whom are doing West Indies duties in Zimbabwe.
Despite some rain around Antigua, the Guyana Harpy Eagles had two good sessions. “Yes, very good. Guys got here on Sunday evening. We had training (two days). The weather affected us on the eve of the match, but we had a good training session prior, in the nets. The net looked similar to the pitch out there,” Johnson added.

Giving his opinion on the surface of the pitch, Johnson said: “A bit different from what we usually have. We usually play against the Leeward Islands here, but the pitch seems to be void of grass, but the pitch seems pretty dry. It may be a pretty flat pitch.”
Meanwhile, Barbados Pride will be without Shai Hope, Kemar Roach, Jason Holder, Raymon Reifer, Kyle Mayers, Roston Chase and Jomel Warrican. Apart from Hope, the others are doing Test duty for the West Indies. Disfavoured Test keeper Shane Dowrich will be aiming to lead the team from the front against the Guyanese.

Barbados Pride: Shane Dowrich (Captain), Camarie Boyce, Shamarh Brooks, Jonathan Drakes, Keon Harding, Chaim Holder, Akeem Jordan, Nicholas Kirton, Jair McAllister, Shayne Moseley, Zachary McCaskie, Shamar Springer and Kevin Wickham. Vasbert Drakes is Head Coach.
The Guyana Harpy Eagles squad: Leon Johnson (Captain), Veerasammy Permaul (Vice Captain), Chandrapaul Hemraj, Matthew Nandu, Kemol Savory, Tevin Imlach, Anthony Bramble, Kevin Sinclair, Nial Smith, Ronsford Beaton, Akshaya Persaud, Ashmead Nedd, and Shamar Joseph. The Manager is Albert Clements, and the Head Coach is Ryan Hercules. The Assistant Coach is Garvin Nedd, the Cricket Analyst is Keshava Ramphal, and the Physiotherapist is Angelica Holder.
First ball of the Guyana- Barbados clash bowls off at 10:00h Eastern Caribbean Time.
Meanwhile, day one of the game between Windward Islands Volcanoes and Trinidad and Tobago Red Force in Grenada saw 11 wickets fall. Windward Islands made 243 all out in 63.1 overs, while Red Force were 50-1 in 21 overs. Tevyn Walcott made 87, while Sunil Ambris scored 55. Bryan Charles had 4-46 and Terrence Hinds had 4-72. Darren Bravo is unbeaten on 32 for Red Force, and Jeremy Solozano is on 18.