Day/Night matches set for 2010 Regional 1st Class season

Pink balls to be used

Rabindranauth Seeram

By Sean Devers
The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) met on Tuesday in Antigua with managers and coaches of the 7 teams participating in the 2010 Regional 4-day First-Class cricket tournament which starts next month and Guyana was represented by Carl Moore and former Guyana batsman Rabindranauth Seeram.
An official on the Julian Hunte led Board told Kaieteur Sport yesterday that the WICB wants an open door policy with managers and coaches.
“We have been asked to make an assessment of where the WICB and West Indies cricket is on the international totem pole. There is also the need for an embracing and open door policy with a view to getting information on the ground and a sharing of ideas,” the WICB member explained.
The official said that in response to a recommendation from the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA), it was agreed to use a ball of international standard in the regional matches but Guyana’s Manager Carl Moore as far as he knew the same ‘experimental’ balls used this season will be used again since he claimed the WICB has invested much in making the balls.
Moore, Guyana’s senior team Manager since 2003, informed that for the first time ever, regional 4-day matches will be played under lights with each team playing at least one-Day/Night game. “The Day/Night games will commence at 13:00hrs and conclude at 20:00hrs and will be played with pink balls,” Moore revealed.
The Manager said that while he could not remember where Guyana’s night match will be played he knew that it was not in Guyana.
Guyana draw the bye in the first round and begin their campaign in St Kitts on January 12 when they face Trinidad and Tobago before traveling to Barbados for their next two matches.
The South Americans face defending champions Jamaica from January 22-25 before doing battle with the Windward Islands from January 29 and it is assumed that one of the Guyana games in Barbados could be played under lights at the Kensington Oval.
The WICB are yet to officially release the fixtures and Moore said it was not unlikely that the fixtures could again be changed. The Berbician also indicated that a copy of the fixtures he got from the WICB claimed Guyana would play in Grenada but a WICB source confirmed that a Kaieteur Sport story, which said Guyana would face CCC in St Lucia from February 26-29, was correct.
Guyana play Barbados in Guyana from February 12-15 before going to Trinidad to take on the Leeward Islands from February 19-22.
The managers and coaches were also asked to look at the youth programmes and to discuss new strategies to improve the stepping up to international cricket.
“We also have mandated to share ideas on how to correct the logistics—re accommodation, flight arrangements, and playing conditions,” the WICB official informed this newspaper from Trinidad.
It is understood that discussions also took place on the sharing of information with the regional Test team and the territorial boards, especially in the area of monitoring players’ fitness and development.
The official said that areas of improving the player’s appreciation for discipline and the remedial work to be done throughout the Caribbean were also discussed.
The Guyana training squad broke camp yesterday for the weekend and will return to the city on Monday while a practice match is scheduled for the following week.
The players, who have been working mainly on fitness during the initial stages of their encampment, will then return to their respective home for Christmas before the resume camp in the first week of next year.
Accredited National athletics coach and former Police first division fast bowler Linden Wilson has been working with the players on their fitness while the team had it first practice session this week.
The touring squad is expected to be named after the practice match and West Indies players Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Narsingh Deonarine and Travis Dowlin should all be available for Guyana’s opening game although it is understood that Chanderpaul could be in the USA just prior to that date to look after personal matters.
The 3rd and final Test between West Indies and Australia ends on December 20 and the West Indies team will not travel to Australia for the limited overs series until the first week in February.
The WICB has reverted to the single round regional First-Class competition next year after each team played 12 in a ‘home and away’ double round competition this year.