Lead Selector Sarwan: ‘We’re trying to groom players from early’

Chairman of the Senior Selection Panel of the Guyana Cricket Board Ramnaresh Sarwan said the rationale behind contracting a group of young players in the Guyana Harpy Eagles set-up for the 2023-2024 season is to allow them the opportunity to cultivate a professional mindset and attitude from an early age.

Following the Cricket West Indies Professional Cricketers Draft on Thursday, the Harpy Eagles 15-man was announced, boasting six players under the age of 25, two of whom are currently part of the national Under-19 team.

“We’re trying to groom players from early,” Sarwan told News Room Sport on Thursday evening.

“This is not to say that we’re overlooking the senior players- they can still be selected to play. But, this is about giving young players an opportunity to grow, which in turn will help us to have a solid core going forward.”

“We want players to understand what it means to operate in a professional environment from a young age, for them to develop that mindset, which can serve to enhance their cricket, as well as Guyana and West Indies cricket.”

National Under-19 batsmen Rampertab Ramnauth and Mavindra Dindyal are among six new players who have been contracted by the Guyana Harpy Eagles for the upcoming season.

Dindyal is set to lead Guyana in the CWI Rising Stars Under-19 Three-Day and Super50 competitions in early July in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Opener Ramnauth, who has played Senior Inter-County cricket for Berbice, is also part of that squad.

The other four first-time contracted players are spinner Junior Sinclair, fast bowler Shamar Joseph, opener Matthew Nandu and wicketkeeper/batsman Kemol Savory.

Each franchise was required to name a list of 10 ‘protected’ players before the draft.

At the draft, each of the six franchises- Barbados Pride, Guyana Harpy Eagles, Jamaica Scorpions, Leeward Islands Hurricanes, Trinidad and Tobago Red Force and Windward Islands Volcanoes- were required to pick five players, one from each of the five rounds.

The Harpy Eagles protected players were Nandu, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Kevlon Anderson, Savory, Tevin Imlach, Kevin Sinclair, Gudakesh Motie, Veerasammy Permaul, Nial Smith and Ronsford Beaton.

At the Draft, the Sarwan-led selection panel went for Joseph, spinners Junior Sinclair and Antony Adams, and batsmen Ramnauth and Dindyal.

Notable omissions

Sarwan said discussions were held with the trio of all-rounders Keemo Paul, Romario Shepherd and Sherfane Rutherford on the direction of the franchise and the corresponding objectives, and they are available for play-for-pay.

With regards to the contracted players from last season who missed out this year, specifically Chandrapaul Hemraj, Anthony Bramble and Akshaya Persaud, Sarwan said he is looking forward to improvements in areas of their game that were discussed with these players over the last few seasons.