Guyana batsman Travis Dowlin is hoping that his side being a surprise package could help them in the forthcoming Champions League Twenty20 tournament in South Africa.
Guyana qualified after beating Barbados in the final of the WICB Caribbean T20 and are following in the footsteps of Trinidad & Tobago, who made the final of last year's Champions League event before going down to New South Wales.
“As a Guyana team we want to bring our own brand of cricket. We want to create our own legacy. Trinidad and Tobago had a great legacy," Dowlin said.
"Last year they did really well for the region, reaching the final, and everyone is expecting us to play a similar sort of game. In many ways we are similar to the Trinidadians in terms of the make-up of our squad, but what we want to do is to have people see us as the Guyana team playing the game in our way –workmanlike and efficient and enjoying what we do. We have our own style and our own way of playing and that’s what we plan to do in South Africa.
“We have the element of surprise," he added. "We have a number of new players – several players who have never yet played at the international level – so this can very well work in our favour. We have some players who can hit the ball powerfully including Jonathan Foo, Christopher Barnwell, and the Crandon brothers (Royston and Esaun) and we also have myself, Sarwan and Narsingh Deonarine, who are ‘workers’ of the ball.
“The one major area we have been working hard on is our bowling at the ‘death’. We have to sharpen up in that department as that is one area that can hurt any team in this version of the game.”
“We have the element of surprise," he added. "We have a number of new players – several players who have never yet played at the international level – so this can very well work in our favour. We have some players who can hit the ball powerfully including Jonathan Foo, Christopher Barnwell, and the Crandon brothers (Royston and Esaun) and we also have myself, Sarwan and Narsingh Deonarine, who are ‘workers’ of the ball.
“The one major area we have been working hard on is our bowling at the ‘death’. We have to sharpen up in that department as that is one area that can hurt any team in this version of the game.”
He added that, with the tournament now less than a month away, excitement and enthusiasm in the squad is building.
“There are very high levels of enthusiasm in the squad. Everyone is really excited now we have this great opportunity to play in the Champions League and represent our beloved country on the international stage,” said Dowlin. “Everyone is full of enthusiasm. There is real expectation among the people of Guyana.
"Everywhere you turn, people including the taxi drives, bus drivers … just about everyone, has been congratulating us for our performance in winning the Caribbean T20 and also wishing us all the best as we prepare for South Africa. It feels really good to see that people here paid so much attention to our performances in the CT20. We hope to maintain that same level of intensity and commitment to the cause. We know quite clearly the entire nation is behind us when we go to South Africa.”
Guyana will play Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai Indians, Highveld Lions and South Australia in the group stage of the tournament, which runs from 10th to 26th September.
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