GEORGETOWN, Guyana – The uncapped pair of Neiland Cadogan and Richie Looknauth have been called up as late replacements in Guyana Harpy Eagles’ 13-man squad for their opening game of the Regional first class championship against Trinidad and Tobago Red Force starting on Wednesday in St Kitts.
Test left-hander Tagenarine Chanderpaul.Cadogan, a fast-bowling all-rounder, and off-spinning all-rounder Looknauth, have come in for injured fast bowler Niall Smith and left-hander Akshaya Persaud, who will be part ot the Combined Campuses and Colleges squad for the February 7 to April 20 tournament.
Smith’s absence will be a blow for the inexperienced Harpy Eagles squad, especially with the 28-year-old one of the more seasoned campaigners with 18 first class matches under his belt.
The squad left for Basseterre on Sunday after wrapping up a training camp here, and assistant coach Garvin Nedd said he believed they had been well prepared.
“The team managed to focus on all areas of work during the camp …,” the Guyana Cricket Board quoted Nedd as saying in a statement.
The squad will be led for the first time by promising right-hander Kevlon Anderson, and includes the current Test duo of Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Kevin Sincliar, both of whom featured on the just concluded two-Test tour of Australia.
West Indies Under-19 batting star Matthew Nandu has been named as vice-captain while veteran left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul, who has captured 607 wickets from 137 first class matches, will turn out for yet another season.
Test star Shamar Joseph is not expected to feature until the final two rounds of the tournament as he recovers from injury and then completes his stint in the Pakistan Super League.
Harpy Eagles will defend the title they captured last season when they played unbeaten in the five-round championship.
They take on Red Force at Conaree Cricket Centre while at Warner Park, Leeward Islands Hurricanes clash with West Indies Academy.
In the other two first round matches starting Wednesday in Jamaica, Barbados Pride face CCC while Scorpions host Windward Islands Volcanoes.
SQUAD – Kevlon Anderson (captain), Matthew Nandu (vice-captain), Veerasammy Permaul, Antony Adams, Kevin Sinclair, Ronsford Beaton, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Raymond Perez, Ronaldo Alimohamed, Steven Sankar, Kemol Savory, Richie Looknauth, Neiland Cadogan.
