Harper says he will focus on each match

Aug 02, 2017 Sports, http://www.kaieteurnewsonline....focus-on-each-match/

As Warriors aim for first CPL title after losing 3 finals

By Sean Devers

The one-week camp here for the Guyana Amazon Warriors ended yesterday with the completion of the third practice match and Head Coach Roger Harper informed that under the circumstances he was satisfied with the camp and the three practice games.
“I am satisfied. We leave for Florida tomorrow (today), will have two days of practice there,” said the 54 year-old former West Indies off-spinner.
The USA National cricket team will play two matches against the CPL sides in the lead up to the tournament in the USA which will host four games in Lauderhill, Florida on August 5 and 6.
The practice matches will take place at the Central Broward Regional Stadium. The first game will see USA playing the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots today, while the second sees USA facing Jamaica Tallawahs tomorrow.
Harper said that the Warriors are focusing on the first match and each game after that so as to qualify for the playoff stage.
“When we get to the final we will focus on that game. We start any competition with the aim of winning it. We have reached the final on three occasions but did not play like the Warriors’ who played in the rest of the tournament,” informed Harper, who took 46 wickets and scored 535 runs including three fifties in 25 Tests between 1983 and 1993.
The three spinners (Jacobs, Rashid Khan and Permaul) bowled frugal spells yesterday and asked if they would be Guyana’s bowling strength, Harper said that pacer Sohail Tanveer got the most wickets last year and the best bowling attack for the different conditions will be picked.
Harper, who captured 100 ODI wickets from 105 matches, stated that the final X1 has not been selected as for Saturday’s opening game against the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in Florida and noted that are still a few spaces to be filled.
Warriors’ Skipper Martin Guptill, the 30 year-old opening batsman from New Zealand, failed in to get big scores in Sunday night’s game under lights and again in Monday’s day game but hammered a 25-ball 47 yesterday.
Guptill, who has played 177 t20 games including 61 at International level where he has scored one ton and 10 fifties, spoke about team spirit and his own form.
“Team spirit is high and we are depending on everyone to play their part during the competition. I was happy to spend some time in the middle today (yesterday) but I don’t judge my form on practice matches on pitches like this one here in Guyana. We should have good pitches when we get to Florida and performances in the actual tournament is what matters,” Guptill said.
The three practice games were all played on one of the two ‘old pitches’ which was slow and had variable bounce. Four of the six pitches at Providence were relayed and produced big scores in the International ODIs played on them. The Warriors, who lost the 2013, 2014 and 2016 Finals, departs this morning for North America.