By Brandon Corlette
The Guyana Amazon Warriors (GAW) overseas and international players will join the team in St Lucia for the opening fixture of the 2023 Republic Bank Limited Caribbean Premier League (RBLCPL), which starts on August 16.
Some of the local players began training this week at the Everest Cricket Club, and according to Coach Rayon Griffith, the focus is on getting the players’ confidence level high and getting them into good rhythm.
“The focus is about getting some of the guys who are not playing cricket into good rhythm heading into the tournament. There are some who are not playing a lot of cricket. If you look at young Junior Sinclair, Keemo Paul and some others…,” Griffith said.
Griffith, who has a wealth of experience at the top level with West Indies, also disclosed that Gudakesh Motie joined the camp in Guyana yesterday (Wednesday, August 8) and the overseas players, the current West Indies players, and Consultant Coach Lance Klusener will join the team in St Lucia.
Speaking on the composition of the squad, Griffith said it is a good core. “The core is there from last year. We do have some local spinners in the Sinclairs, Motie, and Imran Tahir.
“Top-order batting we did not click much last year, so we focused on getting some more batters who could play that role, and to make it a bit more competitive, so no player can come this year and say this position belongs to them. We want to make it challenging for them, so when they have their opportunity, they will be ready,” he explained.
Speaking about Consultant Coach Lance Klusener, Griffith said, “I expect him to bring his experience. He played a lot of white-ball cricket for South Africa. He has been around coaching T20 leagues as well, so we are looking forward for his experience to add to our set-up,” Griffith said.
The 2023 RBLCPL bowls off on August 16 in St Lucia with GAW playing their first match against St Lucia Kings on August 19.
Additionally, the Guyanese core of the Amazon Warriors Womnen’s team also began training this week, and under the guidance of Coach Griffith and Ryan Hercules, the players are engaged in intense training sessions.
Guyana Amazon Warriors squad: Imran Tahir, Shimron Hetmyer, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Odean Smith, Romario Shepherd, Azam Khan, Shai Hope, Gudakesh Motie, Dwaine Pretorius, Kevin Sinclair, Keemo Paul, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Ronsford Beaton, Kevlon Anderson, Matthew Nandu, Junior Sinclair, Saim Ayub and Muhammad Haris.