By Brandon Corlette
Five-time defending champions Guyana Jaguars will welcome the table leaders, Barbados Pride to their home fortress at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence for the “match of the season”.
This day-night match is scheduled for today, Thursday, March 12 to Sunday, March 15 from 14:00h. Jaguars will have the services of West Indies trio Shimron Hetmyer, Keemo Paul, and Romario Shepherd.
The trio have replaced Tevin Imlach, Keon Joseph, and Nial Smith in the 13-man squad that was announced on Wednesday morning. On the eve of the clash, Jaguars Head Coach Esuan Crandon noted that this top-of-the-table match is very crucial for the Jaguars.
“This obviously is more crucial than the others; in Barbados, they had the upper hand against us and obviously we are looking to turn the table. They have a good team on paper; we had a team meeting to discuss our plans, and it is just a matter of us executing our plans and do the right things for an extended period and control the game in our conditions,” Crandon stated.
With the top trio returning in the form of Hetmyer, Paul, and Shepherd, Crandon believe that they will bring a lot to the table.
“From a bowling perspective, we know what Paul and Shepherd have to offer. We are expecting more consistency from Hetmyer’s perspective, we know what he is capable of with the bat. Those guys are a big boost to the team and we always welcome them when they are in Guyana to give back something for the Jaguars,” Crandon disclosed.
The champion Coach is hoping that they can see the best from these players and he remains positive of recording a win. With this crucial clash being a day-night affair, Crandon and his team are unfazed, since they opened their Regional 4-Day campaign this season with a day-night match.
With them 30.2 points away from Pride on the points table, Jaguars will be keen on putting their best foot forward. In the batting department this season, Captain Leon Johnson has led the way with 460 runs. The classy leftie has a high-score of 189* at an average of 41.81. He will be aiming to extend his form. Christopher Barnwell has 424 runs with a high-score of 107 while Vishaul Singh has 378 runs.
Milestone man Veerasammy Permaul has 49 wickets in the season thus far while Nial Smith, who was omitted from the squad for this round, has 20 wickets. Paul and Shepherd, who have donned the Jaguars whites in previous seasons, have shown their dominance in the past. Their inclusion will form a formidable bowling attack.
Jaguars have already lost to Pride by seven wickets earlier in the season. Hetmyer has played one match this season while Shepherd and Paul 20 set to play their first match of the season. Paul played three matches last season for Jaguars, picking up 20 wickets while Shepherd played all 10 matches, ending as the leading seamer in the Caribbean with 37 scalps.
Jaguars squad: Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Shimron Hetmyer, Keemo Paul, Romario Shepherd, Leon Johnson, Vishaul Singh, Christopher Barnwell, Raymon Reifer, Kevin Sinclair, Gudakesh Motie, Veerasammy Permaul, Anthony Bramble, and Akshaya Persaud.
