“Jaguars confident despite last year’s result” Skipper declares

Nov 09, 2017 Sports, https://www.kaieteurnewsonline...lt-skipper-declares/

‘We ready’! Says Manager

By Sean Devers in St Kitts
In association with Vnet Communications

Warner Park should be the venue for a tough contest between the top two teams on the points table and with the small size of the ground there should see plenty of runs as Guyana Jaguars and the Leewards Hurricanes clash from today in the third round of CWI Digicel Regional four-day Championships.
The last time the two teams played in St Kitts last year in the second round of 2017 a declaration by Jaguars Skipper Leon Johnson opened the door for an unlikely win for the home team.
But when the dust had settled, Hurricanes, chasing a record 370 to win, produced the highest successful run chase in Regional cricket to win by six wickets.
Today Johnson’s Jaguars return to Warner Park with their confidence high after back-to-back wins in the first two rounds and the Guyana Captain declared he is not afraid to make another declaration.
“Once we feel that we have enough runs on the board I will declare, last year I felt that 370 were enough runs so I declared, they played well to get the runs in the last hour so credit must be given to them as well. Having said that this is a different game in a different season,” informed Johnson.
“Our confidence is high after registering two wins in a row, we might not have played our best cricket so far but we have had good performances that have set up the wins for us,” said the 31-year-old.
In addition to that win the Leewards beat Guyana in the final round at Providence and former Guyana pacer Rayon Griffith, who in addition the being the Jaguars Manager, selected that last round team as Chairman of selectors.
“The Leewards had the better of us in their last two games, we tried a few young players in our final game after we had already won the tournament and they beat us.
“But come this season we will come out and ensure we give our best to make sure that we come out on top. I think we are good enough, we have to have depth in our batting and we have to bowl well to keep the score as low as possible,” the Jaguars Manager stated.
“Our unit has been a very good unit in the last few seasons and all the players are a humble set of players and I think that is one of our strengths because we bring it together and put it together. “These are players that listen and that is important for the team and team spirit will be very healthy and at this moment I am very satisfied with our team spirit,” Griffith continued.
“He informed that the players are putting in the work and the effort and trying to do their best each game they play for Guyana, adding that there are no injuries to worry about.
“There might some fine niggles but everyone is fit and ready to go,” Griffith added.
Meanwhile, Johnson explained that he is happy to have Shiv Chanderpaul for today’s game.
“Shiv’s presence is going to be welcomed, just like Vishaul (Singh) and Keon (Joseph) who came back in, They have been important players for us over the years so has Shiv,” Johnson said.
“We didn’t get the best start batting wise in St Lucia, but we need to rectify that and build a decent foundation for the middle to build on here,” concluded the Guyana Captain who is also a key batsman in the side.
The 43-year-old Shiv Chanderpaul and his 21-year-old son Tagenarine are once again set to play together in the same First-Class game. This has only happened once before in West Indies when Sir Leary Constantine played in the same FC game for Trinidad with his father who 48 at that time.
Today’s game starts at 10:00hrs and Rakeem Cornwall has been added to the Leewards team after his return from the ‘A’ team.