The 592 Dugout

Nandu’s debut ton puts Guyana in command on Day 2 – WI Championship

Guyana Harpy Eagles’ young debutant opener Matthew Nandu stroked a rock-solid century to mark his entry into regional four-day cricket and put his team in charge at stumps on day 2 of their first round encounter with defending champions Barbados Pride.

Resuming with their side on 205/5, Nandu and Kevin Sinclair added a further 20 runs to their partnership before the latter fell 7 runs short of a half-century edging Jair McAllister to stand-in skipper and wicket-keeper Shamarh Brooks.

Veteran Veerasammy Permaul joined Nandu and together they put on a 90-run 7th-wicket partnership to flatten the Barbados Pride bowling unit. Nandu’s century was brought up just before lunch with a savage cut off the bowling of Keon Harding.

Shortly after lunch, the partnership was broken as Permaul now on the offensive, holed out to McAllister to give Keon Harding what would be his only wicket of the innings. Now in his 8th partnership, Nandu and fellow debutant Shamar Joseph further frustrated the Bajans and added 39 before Nandu’s marathon knock came to an end with the total at 354. The youngster’s 126 spanned 331 deliveries, and included 14 boundaries.

His wicket reinvigorated the Barbados Pride bowlers and they wrapped up the remaining two wickets for just 17 runs but Nandu had already done the damage.

In reply, Barbados openers Zachary McCaskie and Sheyne Moseley put on a valuable 69 run opening stand. However McCaskie would be the first wicket to fall, holing out to Chandrapaul Hemraj off the bowling of spinner Kevin Sinclair.

Jonathan Drakes followed quickly, trapped LBW to Permaul for duck. Moseley would push on to register a dogged 65 before he made his way back to the pavilion giving Shamar Joseph his first wicket at this level, he was out caught behind.

At stumps, Barbados Pride were105/3, still 266 runs adrift of the Harpy Eagles first innings total.

Scores:

Guyana Harpy Eagles 1st Innings 371 (121.1 Overs), Matthew Nandu 126, Kevin Sinclair 43, Jair McAllister 3/43.

Barbados Pride 105/3 (39 Overs) Sheyne Moseley 69, McCaskie 26, Veerasammy Permaul 1/18, Shamar Joseph 1/20, Kevin Sinclair 1/26

Nandu, dropped catches frustrate Barbados on day 1 – West Indies Championship

Highly touted as one for the future, Guyana Harpy Eagles 19-year-old debutant Matthew Nandu played with patience, class and composure that belies his age to frustrate Barbados at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua & Barbuda with an unbeaten 71 on day one of their first round encounter.

At stumps, the Harpy Eagles were on 205/5 (76.4 Overs) after winning the toss and electing to bat. The morning session was cut short due to a Keon Harding delivery which tore a chunk of the turf out of the pitch which then had to be repaired by the ground staff. In that shortened session, openers Nandu and Chandrapaul Hemraj navigated their side to lunch (at 29) without loss. However, Barbados Pride would be left ruing a couple of dropped catches which enabled the Harpy Eagles to push on.

Shortly after lunch, Hemraj and Tevin Imlach would fall quickly to leave the Harpy Eagles wobbling at 35/2. First, Hemraj fell LBW to seamer Jair McAllister then Imlach had to return to the pavilion without troubling the scorers also via the LBW route off the bowling of Akeem Jordan.

From thereon out, it was the Nandu show as he strung together useful partnerships with fellow debutant Kemol Savoury, skipper Leon Johnson and Anthony Bramble, who all made starts but failed to bat on.

Savoury (25) and Nandu combined to take the Harpy Eagles to 80 before the aggressive wicket-keeper batsman nicked spinner Chaim Holder to Shane Dowrich to end his first innings at the regional level. In strode the under pressure Johnson who looked attractive in his innings of 26 and it was only fitting that he was at the non-striker’s end when Nandu brought up his maiden fifty on the stroke of tea to raucous applause from his teammates. However, after the break, Johnson too, fell to Holder with the score at 126/4.

The ever consistent Anthony Bramble did all the hard work at the beginning of his innings only to give his wicket away with a nothing shot as he fell for 20 caught by McAllister of the bowling of Jordan. At that point, the Guyana Harpy Eagles looked vulnerable with the total at 163/5 but all-rounder Kevin Sinclair and the increasingly confident Nandu took the fight to a waning Pride attack.

Their partnership worth 45, Sinclair (28 not out) and Nandu guided the Harpy Eagles to the close of play with the score at 205/5 (76.4 Overs), albeit not without incident, as an edge from Nandu seemed to carry to Akeem Jordan, but the umpires correctly ruled not out which replays vindicated as the ball appeared to bounce before entering Jordan’s grasp. Nandu will resume his innings on day two at 71 (219 deliveries and 9 boundaries).

(Day 1 Stumps: Guyana Harpy Eagles 205/5 – Matthew Nandu 71 not out, Kevin Sinclair 28)

Jaryl Moore appointed Harpy Eagles Strength & Conditioning Coach

Jaryl Moore is a fitness trainer certified by the International Sports Science Association. Moore recently worked at the Ministry of Education attached to Queen’s College where he taught Physical Education and Sports. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Medical Rehabilitation and Physiotherapy, a Graduate Diploma in Computer Science, Psychology at the Cambridge A Level, and CXC subjects in the area of science.

The appointment of Jaryl Moore as the Strength and Conditioning Coach with the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) is in keeping with CWI Sports Medicine and Science Strategy for the development of players. CWI Manager of Sports Medicine and Science Dr. Oba Gulston expressed gratitude to the Territorial Boards for their commitment shown in the appointment of physiotherapists and Strength and Conditioning Coaches.

Moore’s selection complements the appointment in December 2022 of Angelica Holder as a physiotherapist attached to the Guyana Cricket Board, with her main responsibility being that of the Guyana Harpy Eagles.
On the implementation of this new Regional Medical Team, Dr. Gulston indicated that “the assignments of the physiotherapists and Strength and Conditioning Coaches will greatly improve the medical support for all players in our system and the communication between our medical professionals, teams, and players.”

Further, Dr. Gulston mentioned that “CWI will centrally train all the Strength and Conditioning Coaches and Physiotherapists to ensure compliance with operating procedures for testing. The Territorial Board’s assigned Strength and Conditioning Coach and Physiotherapist will now be able to work collaboratively to carry out the relevant tests locally for all players Men, Women, and Youths within their Territory. Given this fact, it is necessary that each Territorial Board has access to the correct equipment, with the initial equipment purchases including that Timing gates, Jump Mats, Dynamometer (Muscle tester) with an expansion pack, and Software and IT support for all equipment.”

Jaryl Moore said that he was happy to be appointed as the Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Guyana Cricket Board and that he is keen on using his knowledge and experience to improve players by getting them to match readiness.” Jaryl indicated that thorough planning on mental, skills and decision-making will be necessary for player growth. This approach will help to realize improved performances and so help the players to transition to higher competitive levels.

Bowlers, Bravo hand Red Force 1st day honours – WI Championship

(Scores: Windward Islands Volcanoes 1st Innings 243, T&T Red Force 1st Innings 50/1*)

On the opening day of the opening fixture of the 2023 West Indies Championship, it was the Trinidad & Tobago Red Force who were in charge at stumps in Grenada.

After winning the toss and sending in the Windward Islands Volcanoes to bat, Red Force made early inroads. First Terrance Hinds accounted for Kimani Melius (4) in the third over while he had Kavem Hodge knicking behind for a 7-ball duck to leave the Volcanoes at 16/2. From there on the Volcanoes struggled to string together meaningful partnerships. Jerlani Robinson and Alick Anthanaze put on 28 for the third wicket before he holed out to Bryan Charles off the bowling of Tion Webster.

Anthanaze held his composure to steady the ship with Sunil Ambris (55), however, with the partnership (worth 54) in ascendancy Anthanaze was dismissed by off-spinner Charles for 41. The only other partnership of worth was 98 runs between Ryan John (who fell for 36) and Tevyn Walcott. The latter eventually ran out of partners as the Volcanoes were skittled out for 243, Walcott’s innings was a mixture of aggression and composure, his 87 not out came off of 101 deliveries and included 14 boundaries and one maximum.

Hinds snared 4/72 while Charles ended with figures 4/46.

In response, the Red Force only suffered one casualty, Khary Pierre who fell for a duck off the bowling of Darius Martin with the score at 6. By stumps, Jeremy Solanzo (18 not out) and Darren Bravo (32 not out) were looking solid and had reduced the 1st innings deficit to 193 with their team on 50/1.

National Stadium for Reg 10, President Ali announces

Linden, Region Ten can expect major transformational development in the coming years with the construction of a national stadium on the cards, His Excellency, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali announced on Friday.

The president made the announcement while engaging residents of Linden at the Christiansburg Community Centre ground.

This new development will add to the synthetic track and field facility at the Bayroc Community Centre Ground, Wismar.

While these major projects are in the pipeline, President Ali stated that all recreational spaces, footpaths, and roads leading to schools, health centres, and other public spaces will be upgraded.

“Whether it is the fence, grading and shaping the ground, bringing the facility up to standard, this year we are going to fix all the grounds associated with schools in Region 10,” President Ali said.

President Ali also announced plans to develop the town of Linden as a center for mechanical and engineering services. The local people will be trained to work in these fields.

“We want to work on developing a particular area that will be able to provide mechanical services, engineering services, tire repair so that we can service the hinterland with here being the major hub to provide those services,” he explained.

In the area of agriculture, a team will be returning to the area to identify a programme to improve production. Drainage and irrigation will be addressed simultaneously.

Currently, Linden is benefitting from major developments in the housing sector as part of the government’s 1,000 homes project announced by President Ali during his first major outreach in 2021. Several homes have been completed and handed over to individuals under this project.

The head of state emphasised the government’s commitment to providing equal opportunities for all citizens and called for collective action to identify and prioritise issues. The government will then provide the necessary support to address these issues.

“So let us move on this trajectory of development here in this community…

That is why I want the ministers to come and walk the grounds with you next week. So that you will say what your priorities are because you are people who understand the reality,” he said.

The residents, who raised concerns and issues, commended the President Ali-led Administration for the work it has been doing, particularly in the vulnerable communities.

The president was accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hugh Todd, Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall, and other technical officers.

Brian Lara to assist Cricket West Indies as Performance Mentor

Cricket West Indies (CWI) today announced that former West Indies Captain and batting legend, Brian Lara, has agreed to assist CWI as a Performance Mentor – working across all international Teams and with input into the West Indies Academy.

Lara’s new role will be to support the various Head Coaches in providing players with tactical advice and improving their game sense, as well as working closely with the Director of Cricket on ICC World Cup Tournament strategic planning.

Jimmy Adams, CWI Director of Cricket said, “I am really looking forward to Brian making a significant contribution to our cricket system by providing invaluable guidance and advice to our players and coaches. We are confident that Brian will help to improve our high-performance mindset and strategic culture that will bring us more success on the field across all formats. Everyone is excited to have Brian involved in supporting our players.”

Brian Lara said, “Having spent time with the players and coaches in Australia and in discussions with CWI, I really believe that I can help the players with their mental approach to the game and with their tactics to be more successful. I’m looking forward to joining the group in Zimbabwe and the opportunity to work with other West Indies teams later in the year.”

Lara’s first assignment will be with the West Indies Test squad. He has joined the Test squad in Zimbabwe where he will assist in the team’s preparations ahead of the first Test Match in Bulawayo on 4 February 2023.

Defending Champions Barbados to face Guyana in WI Championship opener

Cricket West Indies (CWI) today announced the match schedule and venues for the first two rounds of the West Indies Championship, the region’s first-class four-day red ball tournament, which will be played in Antigua and Grenada. The tournament will open with the Windward Islands Volcanoes hosting the Trinidad & Tobago Red Force at the Grenada National Stadium (GNS). This match will start on 31 January and will continue on 1 to 3 February.

In Antigua, defending champions the Barbados Pride will start their bid for a third straight title when they face Guyana Harpy Eagles in the feature match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium (SVRS) on 1 to 4 February. The third contest will see the Leeward Islands Hurricanes hosting the Jamaica Scorpions at the Coolidge Cricket Ground (CCG) from 1 to 4 February.

The second round will be played from 8 to 11 February when the Barbados Pride will meet the Jamaica Scorpions at CCG; Trinidad & Tobago Red Force travel to face the Leeward Islands Hurricanes at the SVRS, and the Guyana Harpy Eagles take on the Windward Islands Volcanoes at the GNS.

The third round of the West Indies Championship resumes on 15 March with the final round concluding on 1 April when the 2023 Champions will be crowned and presented with the Headley Weekes Trophy. The final three rounds will all be played in Trinidad and the venues will be announced at a later date.

Roland Holder, CWI’s Manager of Cricket Operations said: “We are happy to announce the match schedule and venues for the first two rounds of the West Indies Championship, our flagship regional tournament on the annual calendar. The six teams have been preparing diligently for the upcoming season and we expect to see keen competition this year as they battle for the Headley Weekes trophy. From the tournament, the best performers also have the reward of playing for Team Weekes and Team Headley in the new tournament announced by CWI scheduled for April and May.”

The new Headley Weekes Series will follow the West Indies Championship and will feature three matches and three teams. Team Headley and Team Weekes will select from the best performers in the 2023 West Indies Championship and players outside the starting West Indies Test XI. The new West Indies Academy will provide the third team in the new Series.

Team Headley and Team Weekes are named in honour of West Indies pioneers and legendary batting greats George Headley and Sir Everton Weekes, whose names are also honoured on the Trophy for the winners of the West Indies Championship. All three matches will be played from 18 April to 6 May at CCG in Antigua.

Every West Indies Championship match will be streamed live on the Windies Cricket YouTube channel. Fans can follow each and every game from their mobile devices, computers or connected TVs, including access to live ball-by-ball scoring on the Windiescricket.com live match centre.

2023 WEST INDIES CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH SCHEDULE

All matches start at 10am Eastern Caribbean time (9am Jamaica time)

GNS – Grenada National Stadium, Grenada

SVRS – Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua

CCG – Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua

ROUND 1:

31 January to 3 February – Grenada

Windward Islands Volcanoes v Trinidad & Tobago Red Force at GNS

1 to 4 February – Antigua

Barbados Pride v Guyana Harpy Eagles at SVRS

Leeward Islands Hurricanes v Jamaica Scorpions at CCG

ROUND 2:

8 to 11 February – Grenada and Antigua

Windward Islands Volcanoes v Guyana Harpy Eagles at GNS

Leeward Islands Hurricanes v Trinidad and Tobago Red Force at SVRS

Jamaica Scorpions v Barbados Pride at CCG

ROUND 3:

15 to 18 March in Trinidad – Venues to be confirmed

Trinidad and Tobago Red Force v Guyana Harpy Eagles

Jamaica Scorpions v Windward Islands Volcanoes

Leeward Islands Hurricanes v Barbados Pride

ROUND 4:

22 to 25 March in Trinidad – Venues to be confirmed

Trinidad & Tobago Red Force v Barbados Pride

Guyana Harpy Eagles vs Jamaica Scorpions

Leeward Islands Hurricanes v Windward Islands Volcanoes

ROUND 5:

29 March to 1 April in Trinidad – Venues to be confirmed

Trinidad & Tobago Red Force v Jamaica Scorpions

Guyana Harpy Eagles v Leeward Islands Hurricanes

Barbados Pride v Windward Islands Volcanoes

Headley Weekes Tri-Series

All matches to be played at CCG, Antigua

Match 1: 19 to 22 April: Team Headley v West Indies Academy

Match 2: 26 to 29 April: Team Weekes v West Indies Academy

Match 3: 3 to 6 May: Team Weekes v Team Headley

Briton John wins Invitational cycling season opener in dominant fashion

Exciting young cyclist Briton John dominated the opening race of the 2023 cycling season to claim first blood of the new year at the inner circuit of the National Park on Saturday morning.

**Unchallenged! Briton John crosses the finish line to claim the season opener.**

Deemed an unofficial race (not sanctioned by the Guyana Cycling Federation) and organized among the cyclists and former cyclists of the fraternity, rain put a damper on attendance and saw only 9 cyclists at the starting line.

**Jamual John crosses the line ahead of youngster Alexander Leung to claim 2nd place.**

However the weather did not put a damper on competitive spirits as first Jamual John led the pack only for Briton to attack and break away from his counterparts as he established a lengthy lead that he would maintain for the remainder of the race.

The real competition was mid pack as youngster Alexander Leung showed incredible stamina and determination to keep pace with the much more experienced Jamual John among others.

The latter would finish second overall while Leung finished third, Aaron Newton fourth, Alexis Mendez fifth and Marlon Williams sixth.

Leung claimed first place in the Junior category with Aaron Newton second and Jerone Ghanie third respectively.

Ghanie claimed top honours in the Juvenile category with Christian Dudley coming in second.

Of the five Primes (Sprint Prizes) on offer, Jamual John took one while the other four were claimed by Briton.

Nedd, Savoury, Joseph & Nandu earn Guyana Harpy Eagles call-up

The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) has announced a 13-man squad for the first and second rounds of the West Indies Championship, 2023. The squad sees four newcomers in promising young opener Matthew Nandu, wicket-keeper/batsman Kemol Savoury, exciting young fast bowler Shamar Joseph and spinner Ashmead Nedd. On the flipside, there is a notable absentee in experienced middle-order batsman Vishaul Singh.

The Guyana Harpy Eagles will play Barbados Pride at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua, from February 1 to February 4, and Windward Islands Volcanoes at the National Stadium in Grenada from February 8 to February 11.

The Guyana Harpy Eagles squad is: 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, Head Coach Ryan Hercules, Assistant Coach Garvin Nedd, Cricket Analyst Keshava Ramphal and Physiotherapist Angelica Holder.

Reserves: Mavindra Dindyal, Kevlon Anderson, Demetri Cameron, Richie Looknauth and Antony Adams.

Prior to the expected Guyana Harpy Eagles departure on Sunday, January 29, the squad and reserves will be engaged in training sessions from Monday (January 23) to Friday(January 27) at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.

Guyana Harpy Eagles Practice Match: Sinclair’s all-round brilliance hands Imlach’s XI big win!

After a quiet 1st innings with both bat and ball, all-rounder Kevin Sinclair produced the goods (74 & 4/54) to help the Tevin Imlach XI to a 143-run victory over Gudakesh Motie’s XI.

Resuming day 3 on 167/4, Imlach’s XI lost a further 2 wickets quickly before Sinclair entered the fray and together with Akshaya Persaud, the duo put on an 88-run partnership before the latter fell for 31. Sinclair followed shortly for a well played 74, from there, wickets tumbled cheaply and Imlach XI were eventually all out for 300.

Needing a challenging 310 to win, Motie’s XI never quite got going with Anthony Bramble providing the only spark of resistance with a well-played 55 while opener Rampertab Ramnauth got a start (35) but couldn’t kick on. Sinclair along with Anthony Adams (4/25) ran through the batting line-up as the Motie XI could only muster up 167 before being bowled out, 143 runs behind the required target.

Scores: Tevin Imlach XI 1st Innings 226 (Nandu 50, Motie 3/8), Motie XI 216 (Dindyal 43, Permaul 5/8), Tevin Imlach XI 2nd Innings 300 (Sinclair 74, Looknauth 4/87), Motie XI 2nd Innings 167 (Bramble 55, Adams 4/25)