Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) president, Chetram Singh, has acclaimed the country’s Red Stripe Bowl title triumph as a “great victory” for the country.

Guyana, not considered among the top pre-tournament favourites, beat defending champions, Barbados, by 27 runs on Sunday to clinch their third Red Stripe Bowl crown in six years.

“I think it was a great victory for Guyana,” Singh told CMC Sport on Tuesday.

“The Guyanese are very proud and happy about it, and you could see it even in the streets and in the newspapers etc. they are very happy about it,” he added.

Singh, a West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) director and 12-year GCB president, praised the unified effort the players displayed in their conquest.

“It was a good team performance because there were times when our two current Test players (Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan) didn’t get much runs, but other batsmen and other players stuck to the task very well.

“I think it was a good allround and team performance by Guyana,” Singh said.

Guyana, also champions in 1998 and 2001, had three wins — over the West Indies U19s, University XI, and Antigua & Barbuda — and a loss to Barbados in Zone B competition in Antigua.

They toppled highly fancied Jamaica by four runs in a tense semifinal last Thursday before unseating Barbados in the championship decider, and Singh embraced the upset factor in the side’s display.

“A lot of people felt although we got into the semifinals, that playing Jamaica would be the end of our run in this competition, Jamaica having had 10 Test players in their team, that was an upset, and then we went on to win the final against Barbados, who also have a very strong team on paper, and having beaten us in the qualifying round in Antigua,” Singh said.

Singh also expressed satisfaction with Chanderpaul’s performance as team leader.

“We knew all the time that Chanderpaul was a reasonably good captain, he might not be in the mould of a Carl Hooper, but he is a good captain, he had captained Demerara, he captained Guyana before and I think the selectors had some faith in him and hence they made him captain,” Singh said.

The GCB and their selectors endured some local and regional criticism for their decision to appoint Chanderpaul as captain, ahead of Sarwan, the current West Indies vice-captain.

Sarwan was widely expected to be named captain as part of the grooming process for West Indies captaincy.

Singh had deflected disapproval of Chanderpaul’s appointment then by saying the experienced West Indies left-hander had been in line for the job since he was deputy all along to Carl Hooper. (Jamaica Observer)