Day/Night practice match to ramp up Harpy Eagles’ Four-Day preparation

The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) has organised two practice matches for the Guyana Harpy Eagles as the defending champions prepare for the commencement of the 2025 Regional Four-Day season on January 29.

One of the two matches will be a day/night fixture as this season, Cricket West Indies will reintroduce the pink ball to First-Class cricket.

The last time a pink ball First-Class match was held at the National Stadium, Providence, was during the 2018-19 season.

In a release on Sunday, the GCB indicated, “These games are set to play a vital role in forming a robust squad to retain the Four-Day Championship title. The games will also provide a good platform for players to impress selectors.”

The board believes the matches “will enable our players to enhance their skills in a competitive environment.”

Both are Four-Day matches at the National Stadium, Providence, and the pink ball match is scheduled to commence on January 9, while the other, a traditional red-ball encounter, will be from January 15.

Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Kemol Savory, one of whom could lead the Eagles in the first match against Barbados Pride, as Tevin Imlach will likely be unavailable due to West Indies duties, will lead the teams in the practice matches.

Kevin Sinclair and Gudakesh Motie will also be out, which makes these matches key for fringe players to stake a claim.

A noticeable absentee from the squads named in the press release was Ronaldo Alimohamed, who played in six of the seven Regional Four-Day matches last season.

The all-rounder is a contracted player, and it is understood that he recently recovered from an injury.

Kemol Savory’s XI: Matthew Nandu, Raymond Perez, Zeynul Ramsammy, Kemol Savory (Captain & Wicketkeeper), Akshaya Persaud, Richie Looknauth, Junior Sinclair, Ashmead Nedd, Nityanand Mathura, Thaddeus Lovell, Isai Thorne, Chris Harry, Demeter Cameron, Joshua Persaud.

Tagenarine Chanderpaul’s XI: Tagenarine Chanderpaul (Captain), Sachin Singh, Adrian Sukwah (Wicketkeeper), Kandhiya Ramkaran, Usherdeva Balgobin, Kevlon Anderson, Jonathan Van Lange, Veerasammy Permaul, Riyad Latiff, Joshua Jones, Nial Smith, Sylus Tyndall, Jonathan Rampersaud, Rampersaud Ramnauth.

The GCB also invited six additional players, Antony Adams, Afraz Ali Budhoo, Yeudestir Persaud, Golcharran Chulai, Romeo Deonarine, and Bruce Vincent, to compete.

Match Schedule

Match One

Dates: Thursday, January 9, 2025

Venue: Guyana National Stadium, Providence

Start Time: 14:00h (Day/Night encounter)

Match Two

Dates: Monday, January 15, 2025

Venue: Guyana National Stadium, Providence

Start Time: 10:00h