Lead Selector Sarwan: ‘We’re trying to groom players from early’

The six new contracted players. From left: Matthew Nandu, Kemol Savory, Shamar Joseph, Junior Sinclair, Rampertab Ramnauth and Mavindra Dindyal

National Under-19 batsmen Rampertab Ramnauth and Mavindra Dindyal are among six new players who have been contracted by the Guyana Harpy Eagles for the upcoming season.

Dindyal is set to lead Guyana in the CWI Rising Stars Under-19 Three-Day and Super50 competitions in early July in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Opener Ramnauth, who has played Senior Inter-County cricket for Berbice, is also part of that squad.

The other four first-time contracted players are spinner Junior Sinclair, fast bowler Shamar Joseph, opener Matthew Nandu and wicketkeeper/batsman Kemol Savory.

Each franchise was required to name a list of 10 ‘protected’ players before the draft.

At the draft, each of the six franchises- Barbados Pride, Guyana Harpy Eagles, Jamaica Scorpions, Leeward Islands Hurricanes, Trinidad and Tobago Red Force and Windward Islands Volcanoes- were required to pick five players, one from each of the five rounds.

The Harpy Eagles protected players were Nandu, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Kevlon Anderson, Savory, Tevin Imlach, Kevin Sinclair, Gudakesh Motie, Veerasammy Permaul, Nial Smith and Ronsford Beaton.

At the Draft, the Sarwan-led selection panel went for Joseph, spinners Junior Sinclair and Antony Adams, and batsmen Ramnauth and Dindyal.

Notable omissions

Sarwan said discussions were held with the trio of all-rounders Keemo Paul, Romario Shepherd and Sherfane Rutherford on the direction of the franchise and the corresponding objectives, and they are available for play-for-pay.

With regards to the contracted players from last season who missed out this year, specifically Chandrapaul Hemraj, Anthony Bramble and Akshaya Persaud, Sarwan said he is looking forward to improvements in areas of their game that were discussed with these players over the last few seasons.