Sarwan eyes Nortel batting record
West Indies `A' team player and Guyana Under-19 cricket captain Ramnaresh Sarwan has his eyes set on becoming Guyana's leading Nortel competition run scorer in this year's competition which begins tomorrow in Trinidad. And if his form continues in its productive vein as was the case last year, Sarwan is sure to surpass his compatriot Paul Persaud's 1,033 record. "I need 320 more runs to become Guyana's highest run scorer in the Nortel Cricket and I am aiming for that this year. Last year I made 363 runs so if I put my head down and bat I don't see why I can't reach the land mark this year," Sarwan said. If the West Indies Cricket Board does not change the rule for age eligibility after this year's tournament, Sarwan will still have another year left at the youth level. He however, added that he is going all out to pass Persaud's runs this year. The GCC all-rounder who toured South Africa last year with the West Indies `A' team stated than even though performances in against the Nortel Development team will not go down in the record books, Guyana has five other games for him to achieve the required runs to pass Persaud's tally. Sarwan is the only player with West Indies `A' team experience in this year's Nortel series and the Wakenaam island-born youth knows that many expect him to score plenty of runs. "I don't think the high expectations from my fans will put pressure on me, it will in fact inspire me not to let them down," he declared. With 15 first class matches to his name and in his second year as Nortel skipper, Sarwan is confident of success this year. "Last year was my first year as a captain and the hardest part I think was coping with the sometimes hostile home crowd. The people expected Guyana to win and the pressure they put on me when things were going Guyana's way, or if I made a mistake, really took a lot out of me mentally and physically," Sarwan revealed.He remembers particularly the game against Barbados at Everest. "Being around Clayton Lambert, Carl Hooper, Shiv Chanderpaul and Keith Semple has helped me a lot with the little things about captaincy and since the tournament is being played away from home I will be a lot more comfortable and surely the pressure will be far less than last year," the Guyana skipper disclosed. Sarwan said that even though rain has badly affected preparation, especially in the areas of turf practice and ground fielding, he was confident that Guyana will emerge on top. Trinidad is the only venue that Guyana has never won the Nortel title and Sarwan agrees that this could be the hardest series he will play in since he began at this level in 1995. "Trinidad with eight players from last year, including (Darren) Ganga, and the home advantage, is the team to watch, while Jamaica should be the toughest team in Guyana's zone, Sarwan opined. He revealed that team spirit is very high and all the players are eager for action in the middle even though he thinks the players are just about 75 to 80 per cent fit presently. "The new players are all settled in and confident and the entire team knows that our coach and manager has never lost a Nortel series since they took over in 1992. Not one of us will want to break that trend and we are going to defend our title with our lives. I also want to be the first Guyana captain to win in Trinidad," stated Sarwan. The only player in the history of Nortel cricket to win back to back Most Valuable Player awards (1996 & 1997), Sarwan says that Guyana's strength is their batting, but feels they could have a slight problem adjusting from the hard concrete surface they practiced on to the slow Trinidad tracks which will be more difficult to drive through the line on. "I expect a lot from the senior batsmen, especially (Homchand) Pooran and Steve (Massiah) while left arm spinner Hemnarine Harrinarine has been very impressive and could have a lot of work to do since the spin department is thin," Sarwan said. "I know each player has the potential to pull his weight and I expect a lot from the boys as a team if we are to win," he added. On a personal note, the captain said his forearm which he broke on the March 24 while practicing with the Guyana senior team is now even stronger than before due to weight training. "My arm was in a cast for six weeks and even though the cast came off nine days before I went to Antigua a couple of months ago for the West Indies' Board Cricket development programme, it hurt a lot every time I hit the ball," explained Sarwan. Sarwan said that he gained a lot from the 12-day programme in Antigua especially in restoring his confidence in his injured arm. "We stayed at the Hotel Club Antigua which also has a cricket ground and practice facilities and I spent a lot of time using the bowling machine since the balls were a bit softer than the leather balls used in practice and when I hit the harder balls my hand would pain a bit," Sarwan disclosed. Sarwan who has 717 runs from 14 Nortel matches could this year become the second Guyanese to pass 1,000 Nortel runs The gifted teenager who also has 37 Nortel wickets, will have two tournaments to try and break Barbados' Shirley Clark's record series aggregate of 576 runs made in 1996, if he is eligible for next year's tournament. However, for now all his energies will be spent on leading Guyana to a seventh concessive title this year, and as he only know too well, local cricket followers will not settle for anything less. 
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