Guyana’s pacemen taking centre stage

It’s difficult not to love being a Guyanese fast bowler presently. The overall brilliance of the pacemen have spearheaded a three-match successive streak of outright victories, making the Harpy Eagles the hottest team in the West Indies Regional Four-Day competition currently.

Not taking anything away from our spinners and batsmen, the pacers have blown away the opposition to bag a total of 50 wickets in the five matches so far to trigger a feeling of superiority, unheard of for Guyana’s fast bowlers in years prior.

Unlike a team’s other units, it’s a different pleasure for fans when their team’s fast bowlers rampage through opposing batting lineups.

And fiery Nial Smith and Isiah Thorne among others, are providing it in loads as the Harpy Eagles chase a successful defense of the Regional title. Along with the previously unknown medium pace qualities of Ronaldo Alimohamed and Kevlon Anderson, following the removal of the suspended Ronsford Beaton, the Guyanese fast men are bagging wickets like child’s play.

Guyana’s latest a rout of tournament point’s leaders Windward Islands, disposing of them on Friday inside three days was testimony of Guyana’s new found strength in the bowling department.

Before the Windwards, longstanding Caribbean giants Barbados felt the pacemen’s wrath like the West Indies Academy side did as well , as our perennial spin bowling attack has hardly gotten a chance to dominate as per normal over the years in the four-day game.

It seems the sudden brilliance of Shamar Joseph, catapulted into international stardom through his Test exploits while debuting against Australia recently, is motivating his peers to abnormal collective success.

While rehabbing from injury and preparing for his introduction to the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL) T20 series, Joseph was unavailable for the Eagles this time around but after a slow start they are now the team to beat.

More than the others, Smith seems impacted stronger by Joseph’s rise, producing stunning displays in the only two matches afforded him following a belated introduction due to his hamstring injury.

The right-armer is a special talent with the ability to take wickets in bunches and he immediately continued the streak, bagging 13 scalps so far, including his fifth first class five-wicket haul since debuting in 2020.

His searing pace and movement were immediately felt and he needed no warmup encounter before shackling the strengthened Barbados lineup in his first game with a seven-wicket match haul. The ball of the tournament, as described by the commentary pundits was a pacy in-swinging ‘jaffar’ that trapped former West Indies captain Jason Holder plumb lbw which snatched a late victory last week. It was Holder’s return to the squad after a long hiatus and he was leading Barbados’ run chase with a dogged rear-guard action, but Smith would have not of it.

Given his seniority to Joseph, Smith has watched his fellow Berbician take the world by storm, culminating in a lucrative first timer IPL contract with Lucknow Super Giants. And everyone who has followed the path of former national youth team coach Albert Smith’s off-spring in Regional competition, launched with a commanding 6-55 debut away from home against the Leewards, must be licking their lips in anticipation of him tracking his teammate into the West Indies Test side.

And what about teenage star Thorne who’s wasting little time in transferring his success from the junior ranks to the senior level? It was a thrilling feeling seeing him rock the Windwards with unplayable pace on Thursday to lead a rout of the first innings. In only his third first class game for the Eagles, his 4-38 haul engineered the Windwards demise, with a single marathon 11-over spell.

He was not needed in the second innings apart from six overs, as Smith took over in tagteaming the opposition with the latter claiming a team leading 5-29 spell to close out the win with an entire day to spare.

It was obvious captain Tevin Imlach was taking the opportunity to give Guyana’s all-time leading Regional wicket taker, spinner Veerasammy Permaul the opportunity to add to his bulging statistics and the latter obliged by snapping up his first “five-for” in the series.

Also, if not many fans knew of Alimohamed, it should no longer be the case as he followed up a maiden fivewicket performance in a losing cause to Leeward Islands, to support the shellacking of the Windwards, proving it was no fluke, going gong-to- gong with Thorne in the first innings.

The GCC seamer almost snared a hattrick with an impressive exhibition of medium pace swing to end with 3-30. All the while not a single over of Anderson’s slow medium was needed after he snared a maiden “five-for” before the Leewards triumphed in game two, prior to Smith’s return.

It is noteworthy that Joseph, Smith and Thorne are all products of the Berbice Cricket Board under the leadership of Hilbert Foster whose undying dedication to developing the Ancient County’s cricket is unmatched. And according to former West Indies pace ace and current international TV analyst Ian Bishop, Silas Tyndall is another Berbice fast bowling talent who deserves exposure.

Undoubtedly the impact of Windies legends Andy Roberts and Curtly Ambrose whose recent fast bowling clinics done under Foster’s watch and funded by longstanding fan Dr Frank Denbow, are factors in the rapid progress.

However, more input has to be done to take the current corps of the nation’s pacemen to the Joseph’s level and maintain his standards.

The Guyana Cricket Board has to take a leaf out of the since retired Foster’s book to ensure that progress is maintained, given the importance of fast bowlers in a team’s victory quest.

With respect to the Eagles’ current coaching staff, one of our legends has to be hired to help take the current lot further in development. Roberts’ fellow team mate in West Indies’ Dream Team fourpronged attack Colin Croft comes to mind. Given his almost self-taught rise from ordinary to world class status in the 1970’s and 80s’, Croft is a proven expert with a wealth of knowledge. Listening to his analysis before the microphone covering games and following his columns in print, there is little doubt of his potential.

And being a former school teacher on top of his academic accomplishments, from a Guyanese background, Croft is worth a shot, even if he doesn’t have official coaching experience on his resume. And any excuse of lack of finance for any such project would be unacceptable given the resources that can be sourced alone at home.

Professionalizing the Board’s operations must include a competent marketing unit where revenue accumulating should be a major priority.

It is an opportunity to take the country’s administering of cricket to the next level as well. If the Amazon Warriors can successfully do it why can’t the GCB? And how sweet it would be to have a trio of Guyanese the likes of Joseph, Smith and Thorne carrying a West Indies pace attack, terrorizing batsmen at Test venues around the world.