Hurricanes game was a good test – Coach Crandon

Nov 14, 2017 Sports, https://www.kaieteurnewsonline...-test-coach-crandon/

By Sean Devers in St Kitts in association with Connections Travel & Vnet Communications

Vishaul Singh’ unbeaten 97 dug the Guyana Jaguars out of a dark hole while Shiv Chanderpaul’s second innings century lifted them to safety in the third round of their CWI Digicel Regional four-day Championship game against the Leewards Hurricanes which ended in a draw at Warner Park on Sunday.
Although the draw kept the three-time defending Champions in the lead, Jaguars’ Head Coach Esuan Crandon felt the Hurricanes provided a good test for his charges and played well throughout the game.
”This game was a good test for us, I taught Hurricanes played well throughout the game and was able to put us under pressure especially in the first innings. The pitch was as usual a very good one for batting. The first session was best for bowling. I taught our fast bowlers didn’t ask enough questions up early and when they created that opportunity the fielders didn’t back them up” said Crandon in his assessment of the game.
The former Guyana pacer said that once again poor shot selection was the main reason for the Jaguars’ poor showing with the bat in the first innings and was high in praise for Singh, who since his return to the side from West Indies ‘A’ duties, has scored a century in St Lucia in the second round and again batted really well here.
”Vishaul is a very smart cricketer and I wasn’t surprise at all with the way he handled the situation. He has shown that as long the support was there we were able to capitalise on the scoring opportunities. It’s unfortunate he ran out of partner and was left stranded” said Crandon.
Crandon’s main concern is the lack of starts by the openers in all three games played so far and Rajendra Chandrika and Tagenarine Chanderpaul could consider themselves lucky be on the plane to Trinidad instead of on a flight to Guyana.
”Yes, we haven’t gotten the starts we wanted up front from the openers… it’s an area that we will be looking to improve on in the next game. We need a solid foundation up front so that the middle and lower order can build from.” The 35-year-old Crandon lamented.
Chanderpaul showed that despite his age he is still arguabley the best batsman in the West Indies and a great asset to the Jaguars’ set-up. His 77th First-Class ton and 20th for Guyana leaves him only behind Grenadian Devon Smith’s record 25 for the Windward Islands.
”I wasn’t surprised at all with the way Shiv played… Chanderpaul knows how to score runs he’s a great player and has been doing this for a long time consistently… he was able to attack at the right moment and at the set time play safely” concluded Crandon.