By Avenash Ramzan
It’s a humid Thursday in North Sound, Antigua, and the lunch break on Day Two of the first round clash between Guyana Harpy Eagles and Barbados Pride is fast approaching.
The interval offers a welcome relief to the bowlers after another tough session in the field in the Cricket West Indies Four-Day Championship.
Young Matthew Rohan Nandu though is caught in a moment of ambivalence.
Should he go for the jugular, or stick it out and come back after the break?
That’s the big question that lingers in his mind.
The diminutive Guyana Harpy Eagles left-hander is sitting pretty on 98, and Barbados Pride fast bowler Akeem Jordan is standing on top of his mark at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
Whether it’s the debut match- as is the case with Nandu- or game #100, being in the nineties always serves up a nervous passage of play.
The 19-year-old has been here before- he scored a majestic 128 for West Indies Under-19 against Papua New Guinea in the Youth World Cup in the Caribbean at the start of 2022.
Like a year ago, this moment is equally important to the cricketing legacy he wants to build.
He’s on the cusp of achieving a feat that has eluded some of his most illustrious countrymen, the likes of his idol Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Clive Lloyd, Rohan Kanhai and Alvin Kallicharran.
As Jordan passes the umpire, Nandu makes one aggressive tap on the surface, gets into position and steers the delivery to the third man, forcing the fielder on the boundary into play.
The delicate glide, reminiscent of his Chanderpaul in his prime, will forever be etched in the memory of this supremely talented youngster, who sprints back for two to complete a memorable hundred on First-Class debut.
Off comes the helmet to expose a broad boyish smile as the arms go up in the air in celebrating a milestone that puts him permanently in the annals of Guyanese cricket history.
WATCH: The moment Matthew Nandu scored a debut First-Class hundred
MATCH DETAILS: Click to view full scoreboard
The fact that he faced almost 50 overs (295 balls to be specific) to reach the landmark spoke to his remarkable fitness and insatiable appetite for batting.
The fact that he left so many deliveries outside off-stump spoke to his awareness, temperament and relentless patience, a facet of the game that seems alien in an era of lucrative Powerplay and ‘death-overs’ cameos.
The fact that he’s the first Guyanese batsman to score a First-Class hundred on debut since the turn of the century puts him in elite company.
The last Guyanese player to do so was the prolific opener Sudesh Dhaniram against Barbados in 1987.
Before then, Stephen Camacho scored 106 against Trinidad and Tobago in 1966, and Carl Hooper made 126 against Barbados in 1985, and in the British Guiana days, Edward Wright and Joseph Solomon achieved similar feats in 1882 and 1956 respectively.
‘A different player from a year ago’
“I’m not totally surprised,” Matthew’s father Arjune told News Room Sport after the historic knock.
“I always trusted his ability.”
Arjune, a leg-spinner in his days, played four First-Class matches for Guyana between 1988 and 1992 before migrating to Canada, where Matthew was born.
“I have been his coach all his life,” Arjune said.
“I’m so happy for him to be able to do so well on debut. He works very hard on his game and this is the type of reward that he deserves.”
“This is just the beginning though. He has to continue working hard to improve, and most of all stay focused and stick to his game plan.”
After the Youth World Cup in 2022, Matthew was drafted by the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Hero Caribbean Premier League and though he did not play a game, the opportunity to rub shoulders with seasoned international players had a significant impact on his growth.
“He went back to Guyana (to join the Guyana Harpy Eagles) with a completely different attitude. His mindset is totally different from a year ago. The way he has matured mentally is unbelievable. The World Cup experience and CPL has forced him to be an adult,” Arjune explained.
During the two Four-Day practice matches in January to select the Guyana Harpy Eagles squad, Matthew nudged the selectors to look in his direction, scoring 78, 28 and 50.
With those scores, and regular opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul unavailable due to West Indies duties in Zimbabwe, it made Matthew’s passage to a First-Class induction a foregone conclusion, an opportunity he has maximized on, scoring a marathon 126 off 331 balls.
Balancing act
As it is now, Matthew’s battles are not just against the cricket ball; he has to balance his academic pursuits, and adapt to being away from a supportive family as the cricket duties become more frequent.
“Being away from home is tough, but he’s getting accustomed,” Arjune related.
Matthew is currently reading for a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at Wilfred Laurier University in Ontario, Canada, an undertaking he views equally as important as his cricket ambitions.
It is understood he has a quiz submission to make on Sunday, a day after the current game against Barbados Pride is scheduled to end.
For now, though, Matthew can bask in the glory of a marvellous debut, one that has set tongues wagging across the Caribbean and further afield.
As with everything in life, time will determine whether he becomes a household name, or the story of a boy who flattered to deceive after a grand entrance.
