By Brandon Corlette
Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2023 emerging player of the season Junior Sinclair continue his long wait for a Regional call-up.
The Guyana Harpy Eagles squad is stacked with West Indies spinners in Gudakesh Motie, Veerasammy Permaul and Kevin Sinclair.
With those big names being sure starters for the Harpy Eagles, the right-arm off-spinning all-rounder, Junior was hoping for an alternative Regional call-up with the West Indies Academy which has specialist left-arm spinners and no right-arm off-spinner. Last year at the Super50, the West Indies Academy used Kevlon Anderson a specialist batsman, to bowl off-spin when left-handers were at the crease.
Junior, who is a contracted player with the Guyana Harpy Eagles said he sees himself as an all-format player.
“I would love to get a call-up to the West Indies Academy. I was looking forward to that. Unfortunately, for me, the team was already picked, but I am looking forward to that opportunity, that could play a big part in my development to get that exposure and compete with the Regions best teams. I would love to get the opportunity to compete,” Junior told Cricnation592 in an exclusive interview.
“I consider myself as an all-format player. The dream is to play Test cricket one day but I see myself as an all-format player, where I can adjust to any format,” the young Sinclair said.
Now that the Harpy Eagles will be in Trinidad, Junior will remain in Guyana and work on his game.
“I am a contracted player, and I have to do my gym from Monday to Wednesday. Then there is on-field cricket activities on Thursday and Friday. On the weekends I would play in local matches.”
Junior Sinclair credits the knowledgeable Imran Tahir
“My CPL experience was a dream season. Everything I dreamt of came to pass. I told myself that I want to be in the winning team that win the CPL for the first year. It was very great, with the foreigners and local players.”
“The experience was amazing and I learnt a lot. Specifically from the spin twins, (Gudakesh) Motie and (Imran) Tahir. I have had more conversations with Tahir. He taught me about the approach and skill set, in terms of position of the seam, position of fingers, how to strengthen the fingers and how get a better grip. He told me a lot about game awareness,” Sinclair added.
Junior Sinclair, a solid performer
During the 2023 CPL, Junior was seen displaying is acrobatic and skillful fielding. The 22-year-old played in 12 CPL matches and has an economy rate of 6.92, in an era where bat dominates ball. He has eight wickets an an average of 22.50.
In the longer format of the game, Junior has been taking five-wicket hauls on a regular basis. He had 6-37 in 22 overs in March, scored 92 against Demerara, and in January 2022, he had match figures of 11-59 in a Guyana Harpy Eagles four-day trial match.
At the recent senior inter-county, he did not take the tournament by storm, but he was elevated as captain of the Select XI.
He scored 32 from 20 against Demerara and had 0-15 in 2.3 overs, he scored five against Berbice and claimed 1-59 in 9.5 overs, and against Essequibo, he had 3-40 in 10 overs, and scored five with the bat.
Despite his mixed form of recent, he remains a promising player from Guyana, and with his versatility, he will play cricket at a higher level.
