Negativity! Guyana’s bugbear

Mar 28, 2014 Sports

Changes must be made now

Says Sean Devers
Negative batting by the top order and questionable tactics proved Guyana’s bugbear in their first four matches resulting in the Guyanese, once a power house in regional cricket in the 1970s, 80s and early 90s, ending in the cellar position with two meaningless matches remaining in this year’s Regional four-day cricket competition.

Dr. Frank Anthony

This is arguably the worst standard of Regional First-Class cricket in modern times and even with the bonus points system and playing with pink balls and white clothes at night, the organizers have failed to attract the spectators to grounds, which barely had a handful of diehard fans present.
The pitches, especially the ones for the two matches in Guyana, were not good for ‘playing through the line’ with balls keeping low from the first day. The pink balls used for the night matches proved difficult to ‘pick up’ against the black background and the white uniforms and this was compounded by lights at 3Ws Oval in Barbados being too low for this level of cricket.
While this added to the poor cricket, the players themselves must take most of the blame, especially the seniors, for the dwindling crowds, even with no cover charge being required for entry to match venues.
If the overall standard of play does not inspire hope of a West Indies revival in Test cricket anytime soon, Guyana’s performance was simply pathetic and if you think I am being too critical the statistics tell the story.
Guyana collected just three batting bonus points out of a possible five per match with first innings scores of 117 against hosts Jamaica, 140 against defending champions Barbados at Providence, 213 (1 point) against the Windward Islands at Providence (when rain helped Guyana draw a match they should have won with a more positive approach) and 263 (2 points) against CCC who beat Guyana for the fourth consecutive time at the Cave Hill Campus venue.
Fifteen ducks were recorded by Guyanese batsmen with Test left-hander Narsingh Deonarine, who seems to have totally lost confidence, making five of them. Insanity was once described as doing the same thing over and over but yet expecting different results. The Guyanese batted at pedestrian pace from their opening game against Jamaica.

Anand Sanasie

They continued in this mood throughout their next three matches reaching a crescendo of negativity in their last game against CCC when openers Assad Fudadin and Taignarine Chanderpaul labored two hours for 44 runs before Chanderpaul edged a catch to the keeper for eight from 78 balls in one of the most boring opening sessions of First-Class cricket.
And the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), the tournament organizers, are baffled as to the reason more and more people are finding better things to do with their time than watch cricketers whose standard of play is not much higher that first division cricket in Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados and Guyana three decades ago.
Each Territorial Board in addition to CCC reportedly collects US$35,000 to host matches while players can earn millions in the various T20 franchises around the world. No wonder there is little motivation to perform at this level by the senior players and that selfish attitude of self preservation unfortunately seems to be filtering down to the others in the team.
When I played, love, passion and pride were the main motivators but now money supersedes those things. It’s good that the players are now well paid but their performance must match their salary.
Only four batsmen scored half-centuries with Fudadin getting two, yet Vishaul Singh who made 73 in Jamaica and is one of five Guyanese with 100 runs in the tournament (111 from 3 matches) was surprisingly replaced by 20-year-old rookie Chanderpaul Hemraj for the last match. Hemraj failed to reach 25 in any of his two innings.
Only Wicketkeeper Anthony Bramble, who made an unbeaten 64 against CCC, managed a strike rate of 50 while Skipper Leon Johnson, who missed the first three matches due to a knee injury, looked Guyana’s most fluent batsman.
With the repeated failure of Deonarine, who kept his place in the side because of his reputation and off-spin bowling, veteran Shiv Chanderpaul could have been promoted to higher than his number six position to Sheppard the flock, especially when the inexperienced Hemraj batted at five.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul

Of all the teams in the seven-team tournament Guyana scored the slowest and despite Skipper Johnson understandably defending the slow scoring by the batsman, there is no doubt that this ultra cautious ploy cost the team points, especially when Guyana were set 209 to win by the Windwards in almost a day’s play and finished 38 short when bad light halted play with four overs remaining.
Even without Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shiv Chanderpaul, (for two matches due to a thumb injury) and Johnson, Guyana have several capable batsmen in their line-up yet they only passed 250 twice.
The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) is often blamed for inadequate preparation but they cannot be blamed this time. It was agreed by most that the selectors picked the best possible team and the GCB provided the players with enough match practice, even under lights for the night games. The GCB had to pay for the use of the National Stadium for the practice match for the National team.
Two Soldiers were recruited by the GCB to train the team. Manager Alvin Johnson feels the team was badly struck by the ‘flu’ during the Regional Super50 in Trinidad because their resistance was low due to the intense workout sessions.
This is a fair comment but it’s not the Board’s job to babysit professionals to ensure they entered the encampment period reasonably fit.
Ronsford Beaton is a wonderful prospect but the genuinely quick 21-year-old has to be carefully managed by people who know what they are doing since the Essequibian seems to lack the strength to produce second and third spells without dropping his pace. It would be a pity if he ends up on the wayside like Brandon Bess.
At a time when Guyana is searching for quality fast bowlers, 6ft 5 inch Ruan Johnson made an impressive debut against Barbados, who are usually good against pace. However, he was shockingly dropped for the next match when his new ball partner Keon Joseph did not bowl a single ball in the second innings.
The Albion trio of spinners Veerasammy Permaul, Deonarine and Devendra Bishoo bowled all the overs and took all the second innings wickets against the Windwards. It’s no wonder why players the likes of Johnson get frustrated and focus on sports like Basketball, or worse yet, crime.
On a track which everyone (maybe except the tour selectors) knew would provide far more pace and bounce than the ones at Providence, Joseph was dropped and replaced by Raun Johnson while Hemraj surprisingly came into the side.
Skipper Johnson says he wants to win the last two matches for Guyana and for pride but with no hopes of a semi-final spot now, it would be better to lose with a bunch of young players to give them exposure since the senior players have not won a title at this level since 1998.
Players like Trevon Griffith and West Indies Under-19 player Shimron Hetymer could come in for Deonarine and Fudadin, who has changed his style from free scoring to ultra defensive.
Not everyone can bat as long as Shiv Chanderpaul and still be there at the end with a big score to show for his work. Fudadin is not Chanderpaul and Taignarine, who is very talented, is not his father.
Shiv should step up and let the youngsters bat around him. Off the field Shiv seems to be trying his best to get into the heads of the batsmen but clearly, they are not learning quickly enough.
It’s also imperative that Government pumps some money into the resuscitation of school cricket grounds and invests in a proper nationwide schools cricket programme while Sports Minister Dr. Frank Anthony should initiate the setting up of a cricket Academy at the National Stadium which he promised a few years ago.
Roger Harper or Monty Lynch, Guyana’s two most qualified Coaches, should be given control of the senior National team with Esaun Crandon performing the duties as bowling Coach. Harper is a strict disciplinarian and if there is anyone who can change the dispassionate attitude of the players and get the hunger to win, back in the team, it’s Harper.
The GCB and Government both have roles to play in the development of Guyana’s cricket. But that would never happen if the two bodies continue down the war path and officials on both sides don’t stop stroking their egos.
Four-day cricket in the Region is dying a painful death and some of the money from the highly commercialized T20 format should be used to provide life support to the longer version of the game while there is still some hope.