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thursday, october 9, 2014
guyanatimesGY.com
More questions than answers in Sarwan's omission – BCB peeved, says personal vendetta against one of Guyana’s best players should not be condoned By Rajiv Bisnauth
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he player draft ahead of the inaugural West Indies Professional Cricket League is done and dusted. The make-up of each franchise team is known, but for the local franchise, a particularly raw nerve has been touched among the cricket fraternity. Cricket Guy Inc (CGI), the company formed to take charge of the Guyana franchise, has omitted former Guyana and out-of-favour West Indies batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan from their line-up, a decision that led to former Guyana middle-order batsman Ravindranauth Seeram criticising the move. Seeram believes Sarwan deserves more respect, adding that Guyana’s cricket cannot afford to ignore a player of Sarwan’s calibre. While the majority of people in almost any part of Guyana feel that Sarwan has been wronged, CGI has a different position. During an interview on the Sportsmax Zone on Monday Sarwan, a former
Guyana and West Indies captain, the right-hander has played 87 Tests, 181 Oneday Internationals and 18 Twenty20 Internationals said, “I knew they were not going to pick me because there is a lot of feud. There is one individual who doesn’t really like me. “Obviously I knew that was going to happen, I was prepared for it so it wasn’t a situation where I wasn’t surprised or anything like that." This has not been the first time Sarwan was omitted from the Guyana lineup. Back in 2011, Sarwan was overlooked by Guyana for the then Caribbean T20 Championship. Sarwan’s omission then was based on fitness, according to the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB). However, CGI in a Letter to the Editor on Tuesday indicated that it was indeed unfortunate for CGI not to have had the chance to select Sarwan prior to the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force and it is most regrettable that he should make such a remark. But the selection order
for the draft was according to the final league position in the 2013-14 WICB regional four-day competition. Hence the following sequence was followed for each of the five rounds: 1. Guyana franchise, 2. Leeward Islands franchise, 3. Jamaica franchise, 4. Windward Islands Volcanoes, 5. Trinidad and Tobago Red Force, 6. Barbados franchise. The CGI statement said all-rounder Raymon Reifer and Guyanese batsman Rajendra Chandrika were chosen by the Guyana franchise as first and second round picks instead of Sarwan. Sarwan was selected by Trinidad and Tobago Red Force during Monday’s draft as a second round pick. More so, the CGI release further indicated that “Sarwan had called the Board about two weeks ago to say that he was not fit to participate in both the Inter-County 50-Over and the four-day format administered by the GCB in August and September. However, the senior InterCounty one-day competition was played from September 4
Ramnaresh Sarwan
Homeline Furnishing 50-miler set as 5-stage warm up
Mohamed guides Everest Masters to victory over Media XI
Shaheed Mohamed
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Manager of Homeline Furnishing, Fareena Hamid hands over the sponsorship cheque to Randolph Roberts
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erbice wheelers will be on their wheels on Sunday as they prepare for the National Five Stage race starting less than a week later. The riders are expected to participate in the Homeline Furnishing 50-miler race. The race, which was launched on Tuesday, was initially part of the Rose Hall Town day list of activities, but was rescheduled. Manager of Homeline Furnishing Fareena Hamid, speaking at the launch of the race said that it is being sponsored by the business entity to observe its 25th anniversary in business and also its
third year of doing business in Rose Hall Town. “We wanted to show the people of Rose Hall Town that we appreciate the business that they have given to us over the past three years. This is one way in giving back to the community,” Hamid said. The race rolls off from in front on Homeline Furnishing at Rose Hall and goes to the Number 62 Police Out-post before returning to the point of origin for the finish. The first six finishers will receive prizes. During the event eight sprint point prizes will be up for grabs. The first three juniors to com-
plete the distance will also be awarded. Meanwhile, female cyclists will race from Adventure to the finish line with the top three receiving prizes. A special BMX race has also been arranged as part of the programme. This will take the course from the Tain Berbice Campus to Rose Hall and the first three to arrive there will be awarded. The event has been organized by the Flying Ace Cycle Club . The race will only be open for cyclists from Regions Five and Six. Peddle off time is set at 10:00h.
to13, while the four-day was held from September 18 to October 3. Many cricket fans are calling for the local officials to come clean on the real reasons for Sarwan’s omission, since from all indications, there seems to be a personal grudge lingering between one official and the out-of-favour West Indies batsman. Meanwhile, the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) n a release on Wednesday expressed shock at Sarwan’s omission. According to the release, the BCB strongly condemned any personal vendetta against Sarwan. “Once fit, Sarwan is one of the better batsmen in Guyana and the Caribbean. With the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force buying him, it means that fitness is not the issue. "When the selectors reflect on the pervious poor showing of the National senior team, then Sarwan's experience would be an asset to help better and improve their performances this time around,” the release concluded.
ed by a fine all-round performance by Shaheed Mohamed host Everest Masters defeated the Guyana Media XI by 35 runs in a T20 match played on Monday last. Mohamed slammed six fours and two sixes in his 32 to guide Everest Masters to 131-8 off their allotted overs, batting first before re-
turning with the ball to grab 5-11 as the Media XI were sent packing for 96 in reply. Mohamed shared in a third wicket stand of 32 with Hemraj Garbaran to steady their innings after they were reduced to 9-2 on a difficult pitch in hazy conditions. Garbarran counted two fours and one six in scoring 30 while Ronald Jaisingh
chipped in with 15. Pacer Jermaine Neblette was the pick of the bowlers with 3-13 from four overs while Ravi Persaud claimed 2-18 and Isiah Jackman 2-33. The Media XI, despite losing the early wicket of John Ramsingh (06), threatened somewhat, but lost wickets at regular intervals in their chase. Jackman who added 26 for the eight wicket with Keon Blades, cracked three fours in a top score of 32; Blades scored 16 (1x4), Neblette made 12 (1x6) and Persaud 11 (2x4). Jaisingh supported Mohamed with 2-21 while Johnny Azeez took 1-23. Mohamed was given the man of the match award while Everest received a trophy. The club was presented with $100,000 by Truck Masters for their 100th anniversary.
WICB thanks players for professionalism, reasoned approach
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he West Indies Cricket Board (WICB has congratulated and thanked the members of the West Indies cricket team for their professionalism and sterling performance in the First One Day International against India resulting in a win for the regional team by a comprehensive 124 runs.
As is known, the match was under a cloud of possible disruption through withdrawal of player services, and the WICB, the BCCI and all our partners and stakeholders and especially cricket fans are no doubt delighted that a reasoned approach was taken in ensuring that the match was played. West Indies
fans and the WICB are equally pleased with the result which was achieved through an obvious total team effort. The WICB looks forward to the successful staging of the following four ODIs and the full tour of India as the team continues to prepare for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.