By Akeem Greene
Promising young batsman Kevlon Anderson has secured a contract with home franchise Guyana Jaguars ahead of West Indies Professional Cricketers Draft for the 2021/2022 cricket season on Tuesday (May 25) via video call.
The 20-year-old Anderson, is yet to make his First-Class debut, but the Berbician, who represented the West Indies Under-19 at last year’s Youth World Cup, is seen as one of the most promising talents in the country.
He is the lone newbie among the 13 on the Guyana Jaguars protected list. Franchises can protect up to 13 players ahead of the Draft where they will only need to select two players to complete the squad of 15.
Anderson told the News Room Sport he is elated over the accomplishment, but it is just a motivator to keep working extremely hard.
“It feels amazing and I am overwhelmed that my hard work and dedication is paying off. I have been given a great opportunity to be a part of a great team, which is an amazing step forward and I will continue to work hard and stay dedicated to the best of my abilities.”
He added, “I will also continue to stay focused at all times so that when cricket resumes, I will be able to perform at my best.”
The Rose Hall Youth and Sports Club player graduated from the Guyana Jaguars Academy structure and according to him, that experience along with the Under-19 tours afforded him the opportunity to saturate knowledge on the game.
“My Under-19 experience was a learning curve. Playing with and against future stars was truly a blessing to me, so going forward I will continue to remain focused, work hard and better my game with the help of my coaches and teammates.”
No more Reifer
Meanwhile, Jaguars stalwart and Barbadian Raymon Reifer was not retained after six seasons with the Guyanese franchise where he won five consecutive Four-Day titles.
Reifer, whose all-rounder exploits for Jaguars catapulted him to play international cricket, will now feature for his home franchise, Barbados Pride.
Jamaican off-spinner Ramaal Lewis is the other Outside Home Territory player that was contracted by Jaguars last season and is not on the protected list this season.
However, at the last Draft, Lewis and wicketkeeper-batsman Tevin Imlach were selected.
At the last Draft, Cricket West Indies Board of Directors agreed that the requirement to contract at least two players from outside of the Franchise territory will not apply to the 2020/21 season.
Notably this year, none of the six franchises have opted to protect any overseas-based players.
From the protected list in 2020, Anthony Bramble, Akshaya Persaud and Keon Joesph are the other players omitted from the 2021 protected list.
West Indies player Keemo Paul, Shimron Hetmyer and Romario Shepherd, who lost West Indies retainer contracts for this period, are in receipt of A-grade Jaguars’ contract.
The other protected players by the Guyana Jaguars are: Christopher Barnwell, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Leon Johnson, Gudakesh Motie, Veerasammy Permaul, Vishaul Singh, Kevin Sinclair and Nial Smith.
Guyanese left-arm spinner Ashmead Nedd, who was with Leeward Hurricanes last season, is also in the pool of players who can be drafted.
Once the franchises have made their full picks to confirm their 15 retained players, a total of 90 cricketers across the six franchises will be retained on full-time regional contracts for the next 12 months.