One round remains in this season of the Cricket West Indies Four-Day Championship in Trinidad and realistically, it is down to two franchises – Barbados Pride and Leeward Islands Hurricanes – who can cop the title.
There is an outside chance the Guyana Harpy Eagles can win the title, but there would need a huge amount of luck in their favour. To be fair, it is improbable they will win it this year.
Pride is going up against the winless Windward Volcanoes, and Hurricanes against the fifth-placed Jamaica Scorpions, and even if both lose but gain enough bonus points, it would still be out of the reach of Eagles.
Pride is 15.8 points ahead of the Eagles.
For that reason, Head Coach Esuan Crandon said the main aim is to finish on a high against Trinidad and Tobago Red Force in their clash at the Queen’s Park Oval.
According to Crandon, the heavy loss against the Hurricanes was an unwanted one and that put them on the back foot given it is just five rounds this season.
However, he is enthused that when the normal 10-round resumes next season, the Eagles would be back in the driver’s seat in pressing for title success.
A disappointing stat has been Eagles acquiring the least amount of fast-bowling points – 5.2 – and it has caused Crandon to want to ensure he widens the pool of fast-bowling options in Guyana, but was also conscious that the conditions in Trinidad were not helpful to the faster men.
From an individual standpoint, he hopes the likes of Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Veerasammy Permaul, who head the side’s batting and bowling charts respectively, continue to produce impressive performances given West Indies selection is on the cards.
Crandon was delighted about the exploits of young Tevin Imlach, who has managed to get two half-centuries as he groves into First-Class cricket.
The Head Coach indicated that both Anthony Bramble and Nial Smith are close to full fitness and they would make a call on their inclusion Wednesday morning.
On the eve of the game, West Indies batting coach Monty Desai was seen working with the Eagles’ batsmen, offering advice and throwdowns.
Match time is 10:00h.
Guyana Harpy Eagles: Leon Johnson (Captain), Keemo Paul, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Tevin Imlach, Vishaul Singh, Akshaya Persaud, Veerasammy Permaul, Anthony Bramble, Gudakesh Motie, Nial Smith, Demetri Cameron, Antony Adams, Kevin Sinclair, Ronsford Beaton.
Trinidad & Tobago Red Force: Imran Khan (Captain), Jason Mohammed, Jeremy Solozano, Isaiah Rajah, Khary Pierre, Shannon Gabriel, Darren Bravo, Terrance Hinds, Bryan Charles, Yannic Cariah, Sharron Lewis, Uthman Muhammad, Jyd Goolie, Keagan Simmons, Joshua Da Silva.
