Team selection has always been a topic for discussion in Guyana.
While some Guyanese “bash” Cricket West Indies (CWI) selectors and coaches, CWI holds virtual press conferences and gives journalists the opportunity to ask questions as it relates to team selection.
Contrastingly, since the new Guyana Cricket Board took office in March 2021, only one press conference was held, and at that press conference, the former National selector Ramnaresh Sarwan spoke about selection virtually.
Since then, the general public heard once from the Guyana Harpy Eagles lead selector, Ravindranauth Seeram where he had an exclusive interview with noted journalist Brandon Corlette. That interview was published on May 9, 2022. During that interview, some shocking disclosures were made by Seeram, and it was the buzz of the town.
Click below to read May 9 interview:
That interview revealed that Keon Joseph was not a team man, Clinton Pestano was carrying an injury on tour, and Tagenarine Chanderpaul would be the backup opener in the remaining three rounds last season. This was according to Seeram.
Fast forward to 2023, where media operatives are seeking a press conference for the Guyana Harpy Eagles squad selected for the 2023 West Indies championships that will start on February 1 in Antigua.
A social media uproar was launched after the non-selection of Antony Adams, one of the most consistent left-arm spinners in Guyana. In fact, Adams has been the understudy of Veerasammy Permaul and Gudakesh Motie for years. He was also a traveling reserve in 2022 in Trinidad where he did not play a single match.
Adams was dropped and former West Indies Under-19 spinner Ashmead Nedd was selected. The man from Essequibo, Adams, had claimed six wickets in the recent trial matches, while Nedd claimed three.
The other hot topic has been the continuous inclusion of Akshaya Persaud, a man who averages just seven in First-Class cricket after seven innings. In fact, Persaud is arguably under the most pressure from a majority of the Guyanese population who follows cricket. During the trial matches at Providence which was held recently, Persaud had scores of 00, 15, 22, and 31.
Meanwhile, Kevlon Anderson a youngster with great potential who played for the West Indies Under-19 and West Indies Academy, had scores of 26, 40, 05, and 29 in the recent trial matches. In fact, many felt it should have been Anderson, but the argument appears to be that Anderson should have scored big, as did Matthew Nandu and Kemol Savory.
Vishaul Singh, a man who scored 262 runs last season at an average of 52 has not been selected. The Guyana Cricket Board has not yet come to the public as to why Singh was not selected. This current 13-man squad lacks some experience in the middle order, and Singh’s experience would have been valuable, since he scored runs on his last outing, and given that the youngsters in Guyana cricket are not scoring big hundreds. Mavindra Dindyal, Rampertab Ramnauth, and Anderson are all talented young batsmen, but have they been scoring runs consistently in Guyana Harpy Eagles trials?
The case of Christopher Barnwell remains unknown, it was once reported in the media that he would play white-ball cricket for Guyana. That was not the case when the Guyana Harpy Eagles played in 2022.
Therefore, the public is seeking answers as it relates to the selection of Persaud, the non-selection of Adams, and the case of Singh.
