Vincentian head coach clears the air over sea voyage concerns

A decision to take the senior men’s cricket team on Wednesday morning by boat to Grenada to compete in the 2022 Windward Islands senior men cricket tournament has apparently drawn the ire of some persons And, head coach of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines national senior men’s cricket team, Lyndon James has sought to clear the air over the concerns expressed.

Responding to a question about the impact of the approximately nine hour journey on the players who were scheduled to play the following day, Thursday September 29, James told SEARCHLIGHT that this question was put to all the players.

“…And basically everybody agreed to go on the boat. Most of the guys except for one guy, said he will have motion sickness, but apart from this guy, everybody basically accept[ed]…the arrangement.”

The tight format of the tournament may leave not much time for recovery but James pointed out that the SVG team has always done well at the senior level.

Matches of 50 overs duration, will be played at La Sargesse Playing Field and at Progress Park commencing at 9:30 a.m. daily.

“We…have to prepare for everything and anything,” James told SEARCHLIGHT.

“ We have some very good fast bowlers in the setup, we have some good spinners so I expect the team to play well as a unit. I think these are guys that have been playing cricket for quite some time now, so I believe that most of the guys are ready and they are willing to go.”

The Vincentian pace attack is spearheaded by the experienced Delorn Johnson and Kesrtick Williams, along with Darius Martin and Rayan Willaims. James, has played for the Windward Islands for a number of seasons in regional competitions and is expected to possess useful knowledge on a number of players from the other islands.

“We cannot underestimate any of the teams,” he pointed out,”I think most of the teams are very good indeed, and I think the team that play the best cricket will win the tournament,” James predicted.

“I am expecting my guys to go and put up a really good showing. We have a lot of star players in our team not just the bowlers, we have a lot of all-round ability in the team and we have some good spinners in the team, so I am really, really just hoping that the guys will gel and play as a unit”.

Four of the SVG players were already in Grenada playing for the Volcanoes Franchise and,” even though they were not here for most of the practice sessions, I really feel that the guys will gel well,” the head coach added.

Meanwhile, manager of the SVG team, Dyke Cato told SEARCHLIGHT by phone that the time on the boat to Grenada will be spent speaking to the players, getting them to gel even more.

The SVG squad comprises Sunil Ambris (captain), Desron Maloney (vice-captain), Romano Pierre, Dillon Douglas, Wayne Harper, Keron Cottoy, Gidron Pope, Asif Hooper, Kenneth Dember, Darius Martin, Kesrick Williams, Delorn Johnson, Dean Browne, and Rayan Williams, with Lyndon James as head coach, Russell Sissing assistant coach, and Dyke Cato, manager.

SVG played Dominica at La Sargesse Playing Field yesterday, Thursday September 29, and today will play St Lucia also at La Sargesse, with their third and final game against hosts Grenada at Progress Park on Sunday, October 2.

The third place play-off will be decided at La Sargesse on Monday, October 3 between the third and fourth placed teams, with the championship match to be played on the same day at Progress Park between the first and second place teams.