GEORGETOWN–Coach Esaun Crandon says he wants Guyana to exploit home advantage and finish the regional cricket season on a high since title honours are beyond their reach.
Guyana is preparing to play Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) in their penultimate regional four-day clash from tomorrow at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.
After participating in four rounds each in both the four-day and Super50 tournaments, Guyana has chalked up just one victory and is virtually out of the title hunt in both versions.
"I am convinced home advantage could make a decisive difference, but at the same time we cannot afford to be too complacent," Crandon told the Guyana Times.
In the four-day competition, Guyana is at the bottom of the table with a mere six points, including three defeats and a draw.
The Guyanese are in the penultimate spot in the Super50–just above Leeward Islands with four points from three losses and a win.
However, Crandon says Guyana will be looking to change its fortunes when it takes on CCC this weekend.
"I think we have to play better cricket than them over the four days in order for us to win," Crandon said.
The Guyana coach, commenting on Wednesday at the end of the team's training session at the stadium, said he was confident that his team can make the most of the home advantage and finish the tournaments with some positive results.
"Our batting will be very important because once we can bat for at least four sessions, then we should get a good total on the board," he said.
"We have always done well in our bowling but throughout the tournaments it's our batting which has let us down."
The team will be without regular wicketkeeper Derwin Christian who was axed from the squad for the remainder of both tournaments.
Christian, despite having the most dismissals by any wicketkeeper in the competitions, had a poor showing with the bat and was replaced by 22-year-old Berbician Anthony Bramble, who will make his first-class debut.
Also recalled is opening batsman Rajendra Chandrika, dropped after three games each in the both tournaments due to poor batting form.
Meanwhile, the batting line-up will be boosted by the presence of the West Indies trio Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Narsingh Deonarine.
The team will be without all-rounder Christopher Barnwell, who will be leaving for India to begin his Indian Premier League stint with Royal Challengers Bangalore. Also absent from the four-day squad is young Tagenarine Chanderpaul who has joined the West Indies Under-19 World Cup preparatory camp.
Four-day squad: Rajendra Chandrika, Assad Fudadin, Leon Johnson, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Narsingh Deonarine, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Anthony Bramble, Veerasammy Permaul, Devendra Bishoo, Ronsford Beaton, Paul Wintz, Steven Jacobs, and Zaheer Mohamed.
Super50 squad: Trevon Griffith, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Leon Johnson, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Narsingh Deonarine, Anthony Bramble, Steven Jacobs, Devendra Bishoo, Veerasammy Permaul, Ronsford Beaton, Paul Wintz, Rajiv Ivan, and Zaheer Mohamed. (CMC)
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