Devon Lord must feel a sense of despair with Inter-County snub

Twelve months ago Devon Lord was at the peak of his powers, dominating the Senior Inter-County 50-over competition.

Frugal bowling coupled with his wicket-taking prowess placed him on the verge of a senior national debut; he narrowly missed out, falling on the standby list for the Guyana Harpy Eagles in the Regional Super50.

His career was moving in the right direction, inching ever so closer to wearing the national team uniform, a goal he set himself years ago after churning out consistent performances at the club level.

Lord has been plying his trade at ‘Bourda’ for over a decade, a stalwart of the club he now captains in First Division cricket.

Now, a year on from that prolific Inter-county with the white ball, Lord is out in the wilderness, inexplicably forced to watch the upcoming Inter-County 50-over tournament from the sidelines.

Strangely, the Georgetown Cricket Club left-arm spinner could not find a spot in the Demerara 14-man squad for the tournament starting October 11.

That he did not even find favour with those entrusted with assembling the Select XI is even more baffling.

Last season, Lord, now 30, bagged a championship leading 11 wickets from four games, averaging an astonishing 10.73 and going at a parsimonious economy rate of 3.39.

His returns read 3-21 against the Select XI, 4-28 against Berbice, 3-50 against Essequibo, and 1-19 against Essequibo in the final, which Demerara won to retain the title.

“I told myself once I get the opportunity I will relish it and see if I could get the most wickets in the tournament,” he told News Room after the second game against Berbice in 2024.

“I came with that mindset and that goal set, and I’m trying to achieve that goal.”

When quizzed on his ambitions to play for Guyana, Lord responded: “That’s one of my aim as well. I’ve been around for a while and I’m trying to let them (the selectors) know that I’m still here playing good cricket.”

Earlier this year in the Georgetown Cricket Association’s Pepsi 50-over First Division competition, he picked up the most wickets, while also claiming the Best Bowler award in the final against champions Demerara Cricket Club, claiming 4-20.

In March this year, Lord also shone brightly in the CPL/TKR T20 Festival in Trinidad, emerging as the leading wicket-taker for Yorkshire Cricket Club with 10 scalps in four games, including a best of 5-23 against the power-packed Queen’s Park Cricket Club.

That stint was geared to further sharpen his white-ball skills as he pushed to break into Guyana Harpy Eagles set-up and fulfill a lifelong dream.

For now though, that ambition remains unfulfilled as the upcoming Inter-County, in which he will play no part, will be used to select the national team.

“It’s unfortunate,” President of the Georgetown Cricket Club Jonathan Yearwood said of Lord’s omission.

“When I asked the selector why he wasn’t picked, I was told that because of his age.

“He’s certainly one of the better left-arm spinners in Guyana at this point in time and he should have earned selection to the Guyana team many years ago.”

Yearwood continued: “I’m very disappointed with the Demerara selection because there were no trial matches. Berbice had trial matches, Essequibo had trial matches. Demerara chose not to have any trial matches, so how can you select a squad? You’re picking players on what criteria?”

Efforts by the News Room to get clarity on the selection process proved futile, as calls to the chief selector of the county went unanswered.

As such, the circumstances surrounding Lord’s non-selection remains a mystery.

What is certain though, it could not be a question of competence, as he ticks the boxes to experience, performance, fitness and cricketing IQ.

Demerara: Matthew Nandu (Captain), Raymond Perez, Mavindra Dindyal, Ushadeva Balgobin, Chanderpaul Ramraj, Ronaldo Alimohamed (Vice Captain), Richie Looknauth, Jonathan Van Lange, Chaitram Balgobin, Shamar Apple, Ashmead Nedd, Riyad Latif, Chris Harry and Daniel Ross.

Coach: Garvin Nedd, Manager: Surendra Hiralal