The jaded Guyana U-17 Team will meet Windward Islands in their third-round match today, Tuesday July 9.
In their first-round match, Guyana U-17 lost to Trinidad and Tobago by nine wickets at the National Cricket Centre in Couva, Trinidad and Tobago. The second round match saw the Guyanese team suffering a seven-wicket defeat against Barbados at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad &Tobago.
Those results were not surprising, considering that this Guyana U-17 team is one of the poorest ever selected. Its Trinidad & Tobago counterpart has seven players with national experience, while not one Guyana player has ever played inter-county cricket. The magicians we have for selectors should take responsibility for the team’s outstandingly poor performance and for the last-moment preparations that were put in place for the team.
In the opening round, the Guyanese were bowled out for 91, with only West Indies U-15 player Mavindra Dindyal scoring 46. He was the only bright performer. The second match saw the highly talented Matthew Nandu scoring an unbeaten 71 as Guyana posted 141 for nine in their allotted 50 overs. Captain Sheldon Charles also scored 21 runs in opening the batting.
These players will be aiming for a strong finish to save themselves from further embarrassment. Guyana will play Jamaica and the Leeward Islands in their final two rounds of matches, which will conclude on July 13, 2019.
The Guyana Under-15 captain, Zeynul Ramsammy, was not given the opportunity to lead the team, after he had led the Under-15 team in a strong tournament last year.
Numerous talented and capable players were omitted, and a few average performers were selected to represent Guyana U-17.
The likes of West Indies U-15 players Isai Thorne and Rampertab Ramnauth were among the notable omissions. Jonathan Rampersaud, Daniel Mootoo, Ricardo Ramdehol, Abdul Ramsammy and Shamar Yearwood were among the players with previous Regional experience who were omitted although eligible for selection this year. (Brandon Corlette)
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