The Guyana T20 team, which is slated to wing out to Antigua for the 2nd annual Antigua/Barbuda Cricket Association (ABCA) Tri 20 tournament, began preparations with an arduous Yo-Yo assessment at the Leonora Synthetic Track on Tuesday.
With the competition bowling off from October 6, the Leon Johnson led side got together for another tough morning of exercise routines geared towards heightening the team’s physical standards.
Used to evaluate an individual’s ability to endure repeated periods of vigorous activity followed by short active breaks, the intermittent fitness exam saw players being pushed to their physical limit as fitness continue to be a priority in local cricket. With stamina also being main criteria for the coaches, a number of sessions on sprints and dashes were also conducted on the synthetic track for the first time, under the eyes of head coach Esuan Crandon with assistance coaches Rayon Griffith and Clive Grimmond.
Speaking with Guyana Times International Sport following one of the exercises, Crandon said with the players already training on a weekly basis, it was important to use the Leonora venue as it provides a mirroring environment similar to the one’s used by the West Indies during their physical assessments.
The coach said the assessments which were carried out were important for all the cricketers especially for those who are contracted by the West Indies and Guyana. “The training is for the entire franchise; the CGI contracted players, GCB academy and West Indies contracted players, it’s basically to assess them and see where they are.”
Thanks to the ongoing sessions which occur weekly, most of Guyana’s players who have not played any international cricket have gotten very fit under the guidance of Crandon and Griffith, both of whom have been instrumental in Guyana’s success over the past four seasons.
With a lot of firepower in the side, Guyana will carry a star-studded team to the competition and according to the coach he expects that players, especially those who have been on international duty or had good Caribbean Premier League (CPL) outings, to put on sterling performances during the T20 tourney.
Meanwhile, Griffith during a few brief remarks said that from a physical standpoint he was pleased with the progress of the players but added that he would like to see a bit more development in the fitness area, something he believes will ultimately be better for his players in the long run.
Among the top performers of the Yo-Yo exam were pacer Raun Johnson who was at one time the only man running the test, vice-captain for the T20’s Veerasammy Permaul, Jamaican Ramaal Lewis, left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie, Tagenarine Chanderpaul and the skipper Johnson.
In addition to the Guyana T20 players, current West Indies Test players Raymon Reifer, Vishaul Singh and Shimron Hetmyer were also present at the session on Tuesday. Training continues at the Everest Cricket Club ground from 09:00h.
The Guyana squad for the T20’s: Robin Bacchus, Gajanand Singh, Leon Johnson, Chanderpaul Hemraj, Jonathan Foo, Anthony Bramble, Keemo Paul, Sherfane Rutherford, Veerasammy Permaul, Steven Jacobs, Ronsford Beaton, Romario Shepherd, Ricardo Adams, Christopher Barnwell and Ramaal Lewis
