By Jemima Holmes
The Biggest Party in Sport is almost one month away, and local franchise the Guyana Amazon Warriors are leaving nothing to chance in the 2022 season.
The local franchise is ramping up preparation ahead of the 10th edition of the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) with a handful of players commencing their training locally at the Everest Cricket Club on Tuesday. In a few weeks’ time, several others will join the Warriors as they head into camp on August 9 at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, before being joined by their colleagues on West Indies duties and those on other international duties.
In the meantime, Assistant Coach Ryan Hercules has begun training sessions with a group of four, namely: Veerasammy Permaul and Ronsford Beaton, who are returning to the Warriors set up after few years away, and fresh faces in Junior Sinclair and Matthew Nandu.
“We would have started yesterday with four players. We’re basically doing some specifics with them; some spot bowling. We have Nandu and the other guys doing some drills, batting and stuff. These are the guys who weren’t playing cricket for a little while, so we’re just getting them back into cricket,” Hercules informed Guyana Times Sport on Wednesday morning.
The Assistant Coach continued, “I’ve been doing some work with them, with the side arm and stuff, it’s basically getting them back into a level of fitness. We have Yisrael, who’s doing some work with them as well, in terms of their strength and conditioning.”
Shifting focus to the likes of Shimron Hetmyer, Keemo Paul, Romario Shepherd et al, who are currently engaged with the West Indies team, Hercules expressed no worries about their preparation and workload, since they are under the watchful eye of Head Coach Rayon Griffith.
“The Head Coach is up there with them, so that’s a good thing for us. So, he’s basically monitoring them up there as well with the West Indies team. (He’s) managing their workload over there, so when they come to us, they’re going to be fit and ready to work out throughout the whole tournament,” he explained.
“It’s very important for us, because we don’t want the guys doing too much of work and then you get into the tournament and you get injuries and niggles coming along in the T20, especially coming to the back end of the tournament.”
Hercules further stated about the players’ workload, “We’re having discussions with the guys in terms of how they manage themselves as well. They know they have The Sixty coming up and the T20s. So, it’s up to the players to know their workload, what they have to do; and when they come with us to do the work, how much work they can put in during the day,” he said. “So, it’s kind of very key that we make sure we manage the bowlers (and) the batters.”
An optimistic Hercules is focused on getting the balance right so the Amazon Warriors can clinch the title on home soil this year.
He explained, “I have a lot of meetings with the Head Coach, and looking at the guys, we say we need to see how we can make sure we get the guys playing cricket and performing to the best of their ability. Yes, we know the World Cup is just around the corner, we need the guys playing cricket to showcase their talent.”
Focusing on Guyana’s chances at uplifting the CPL Trophy this year, Hercules shared with a smile, “Everyone is excited to get the cricket going, the T10, the T20, we have all faith in the local players, the overseas players to go out and execute, have a good time, have a good tournament, and hopefully this could be the year for Guyana.”
The Guyana Amazon Warriors men’s team reads: Imran Tahir, Shimron Hetmyer, Tabraiz Shamsi, Chanderpaul Hemraj, Paul Stirling, Henrich Klassen, Keemo Paul, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Gudakesh Motie, Shai Hope, Colin Ingram, Ronsford Beaton, Veerasammy Permaul, Matthew Nandu, Junior Sinclair and Jermaine Blackwood. (This story was first published in the Guyana Times)
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