Star batsman Kevlon Anderson was appointed captain of the Guyana Harpy Eagles Four-Day team ahead of the upcoming CWI Regional Four-Day Championship, starting on February 7. Guyana will face Trinidad and Tobago Red Force in their first encounter in St Kitts.
Spinner Steven Sankar will be among the new faces in the team, following a breakthrough year with the ball at domestic level. Opener Raymond Perez, following his immaculate batting form which rolled over from 2023, will get his chance to play at the senior level.
In-form fast-bowling all-rounder, Ronaldo Alimohamed is the third fresh face in the Harpy Eagles side, having played 50-Over cricket for Guyana at the senior level.
Alimohamed, Perez and Sankar will likely make their debut while middle-order batsman Akshaya Persaud makes a return to the Harpy Eagles unit, following his return to form across all formats.
Young batting sensation Matthew Nandu will be Anderson’s deputy as they lead a well-balanced side featuring a few veterans among the new faces.
First-Class cricket’s leading spinner Veerasammy Permaul, Anthony Adams and West Indies latest Test player, Kevin Sinclair will run the spinner’s show for Eagles.
Fast-bowler Ronsford Beaton, Nial Smith and Alimohamed will make up the front-line seam unit, which adds to their star-studded batch of spin bowlers.
Test opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Nandu, Sinclair, Perez, Anderson, Persaud will look to carry the Eagles batting unit.
Kemol Savory will be the wicket-keeper for the first two rounds until Tevin Imlach returns from West Indies duties. Savory is also expected to play a key role in the batting department.
The Harpy Eagles Head Coach is Ryan Hercules and Assistant Coach Garvin Nedd will have Ryerson Bhagoo as their Analyst and Albert Clements will continue as Manager.
Meanwhile, this year’s 4-Day Championship will have a significant increase in prize money as the winning team will pocket the US$250,000 first place prize , while the runner’s up will receive US$100,000.
The GHE commence their title defense when the West Indies Championship bowls off in St Kitts on February 7. GHE is set to face Trinidad and Tobago Red Force at Conaree Cricket Centre in round 1.
Guyana Harpy Eagles 4-Day team – Kevlon Anderson (Cpt), Matthew Nandu (VC), Nial Smith, Veerasammy Permaul, Antony Adams, Kevin Sinclair, Ronsford Beaton, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Akshaya Persaud, Raymond Perez, Ronaldo Alimohamed, Steven Sankar, Kemol Savory.
Under the new Cricket West Indies ‘Player Movement Policy’ each territory is required to name six Priority players. The GHE’s six priority players will be announced shortly. (GCB)