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GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday March 18, 2016
Guyana Jaguars face must-win situation
By Rajiv Bisnauth ADMITTING the Guyana Jaguars are in a “must-win situation”, coach Esaun Crandon said his players are aware of the importance of today’s start of the final round of the WICB/Professional Cricket League (PCL) four-day Tournament against Jamaica Scorpions at the Guyana National Stadium. The Guyana Jaguars do not have the luxury of experimenting and have no option but to win the game. They remained at the top of the standings with 130 points, but had their advantage narrowed to only seven points by second-placed Barbados Pride. The Leon Johnson-led Guyana Jaguars have showed that they can go the distance, winning seven of the nine games so far. Crandon, the former Guyana cricketer, acknowl-
edged that the Guyana Jaguars will need to play hard and smart cricket over the next four days. “Definitely we must win this game. A win will give us a good chance of retaining the title, but having said that we have no control over the Barbados game. Once we take care of our business and win this game we will definitely be in with a good chance,” Crandon pointed out. The Jamaica Scorpions are currently in third-place ahead of Trinidad and Tobago with 82 points, but Crandon acknowledged that the visitors could provide a sterner challenge. “They have been playing good cricket though they might not be getting the (desired) results. If you look at the last game they played, they came out on top, so they have provided tough games and they have some very good players,” he said, moments before a practice
… ‘We need to be at our best,’ says Crandon
session at the Guyana National Stadium.
SHIMRON HETMYER The Guyana Jaguars have made two changes to their 13-man squad. Winning West Indies Under-19
World Cup captain Shimron Hetmyer and off-spinner Steven Jacobs, have replaced injured Shivnarine Chanderpaul and fast bowler Ronsford Beaton. Meanwhile, according to the Jamaica Observer newspaper, the Jamaica Scorpions will be without champion left-arm spinner Nikita Miller. A news release from the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) said the 33-yearold has returned home for “medical reasons”. He is being replaced by the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) back-of-the-hand left-arm spinner Dennis Bulli. Miller, among the most successful bowlers in regional first-class cricket, is currently leading the tournament’s bowling chart with 65 wickets. He picked up a matchhaul of 7-160 a few days
ago as Jamaica completed a nine-wicket away win over the Windward Islands to end a sequence of defeats. Miller also passed 400 wickets in that game, with 403 first-class wickets at a miserly 16.87 each. Bulli, a former Jamaica Under-19 representative, is yet to play first-class cricket. The game starts at 10:00hrs daily and admission to the venue is free. In the other two games, Barbados Pride will play Leeward Islands Hurricanes, while Trinidad and Tobago Red Force come against Windward Islands Volcanoes. The Guyana Jaguars squad reads: Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Rajendra Chandrika, Leon Johnson (captain), Vishaul Singh (v-captain), Shimron Het-
myer, Raymon Reifer, Anthony Bramble, Christopher
ESAUN CRANDON Barnwell, Veerasammy Permaul, Gudakesh Motie, Devendra Bishoo, Keon Joseph and Steven Jacobs.
NSC delivers on promise Rescheduled annual Diamond THE National Sports Commission (NSC) has delivered on its promises of sponsorship and medals to several sporting associations and organisations, handing over approximately $3.6M. The Guyana Boxing Association (GBA), Guyana Boxing Board of
He noted that some of the requests came over seven months ago but were held up due to budget debates. “The NSC would have received several requests and in keeping with our mandate in terms of providing assistance to those organisations and associations, a small committee that forms
Sport Director Christopher Jones stands with NSC commissioner Edison Jefford and the receiving parties. (Stephan Sookram photo) Control (GBBC), the Guyana Amateur Swimming Association (GASA), Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF), Guyana Badminton Association (GBA), Guyana Baseball League (GBL), Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG), Help and Shelter, Mayor’s Cup football tournament and New Amsterdam Multilateral School were the recipients of cash donations while the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) received medals for their upcoming 50th Anniversary meet. During a simple yet significant ceremony today, Sport Director Christopher Jones stated that the body is pleased to assist associations whenever possible.
part of the NSC sat and deliberated on those requests that were submitted by the various associations and from that, we would have allocated financial resources,” said Jones. The Sport Director encouraged more groups to apply for grants adding that he wants to ensure that the far-flung regions of Guyana benefit from the NSC. Speaking on behalf of the associations, Badminton Association president Gokarn Ramdhani commended the NSC for disbursing funds that will ultimately assist the organisations and reminded them that great things are expected. (Stephan Sookram)
Mineral Water 11-race programme set for tomorrow
THE 11th Annual Diamond Mineral Water 11-race cycle programme which was originally scheduled for last Saturday, will now be held tomorrow (Saturday) around the inner circuit of the National Park beginning at 09:00hrs. The event, which is being organised by national cycle coach Hassan Mohamed, will see defending champion of the School Boys and Novices’ feature 35-lap event, Jebon Crawford, battle to make a successful defence of his title. According to Mohamed, the event had to be rescheduled because of works that were ongoing on the circuit at the National Park over the past two weeks. At last year’s event, Crawford, a member of the Trojan Cycle Club of Berbice, returned one hour 17 minutes 10 seconds in winning the race, but this time around, he will have to be wary of Team Evolution’s trio of Orville Hinds, Marlon `Fishy’ Williams and Raul Leal, who are all in form at the moment. Only two Sundays ago, Williams won the first stage of the 19th Memorial Anniversary of the late Dr Cheddi Jagan in Berbice. Stage two was not staged for reasons unknown and stage three which was originally set for Sunday on the Essequibo Coast is also in doubt. Team Evolution has been firing on all cylinders since the 2016 season got underway in January and it seems that with the absence of Team Coco’s from competitive riding since last November, the formative Team Evolution will continue to dominate. In the juvenile 10-lap race tomorrow, Jamal John, who has been in good nick since the 2016 season started, should be able to make a successful defence of his title which he won in
a time of 23 minutes 08.05 seconds. Junior Niles won the five-lap race for veterans Under-50 in a time of 12 minutes 14.90 seconds and will be looking to make a suc-
Marlon `Fishy’ Williams cessful defence of that title but will have to be wary of Kennard Lovell and Warren McKay. Brighton John won the Boys and Girls 12-14 years age group three-lap race in a time of seven minutes 20.15 seconds and will be hoping to repeat that feat this year. Shawn Boodhram is the defending champion of the five-lap race for mountain bikers. Marketing representative of Demerara Distillers Limited, Larry Milles, is expected to witness the day’s activity as well as to assist with the presentation of prizes to the respective winners.