By Ravendra Madholall in Toronto
A confident Ronsford Beaton is looking to produce good performances for Guyana at the imminent West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) NAGICO Super50 tournament in Trinidad and Tobago.
Guyana pacer Ronsford Beaton is looking forward to (WICB) NAGICO Super50 tournament. Photo: windiescricket.com
The right-arm quickie has expressed firm optimism of dominating with the ball after declaring his preparations are great both physically and mentally. He is 21-year-old and has played plenty of cricket already and no doubt his maturity has grown quite tremendously so far.
“Definitely, I want to perform to the best of my ability and come out with a good economy rate; I [am] not the fittest, but I feel I am in good shape with my fitness so I really looking forward to do well for my country,” Beaton related via email.
Guyana will begin their campaign against invitational touring team Ireland on January 31 at the famous Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain having placed in Group A and Beaton, who made his List A debut last year February against Leeward Islands in Antigua, said the side is well-balanced to make a huge impact on this occasion.
“We have a good team to compete and I think with the warm-up matches we are definitely ready to make our country proud; we have got experienced and talented players and that gives me the confidence of predicting a great outcome for us,” the enthusiastic Beaton asserted.
Only last September when Beaton toured with the West Indies ‘A’ team to India, renowned versatile all-rounder Yuvraj Singh recognised his natural talent and rated him as a young Curtley Ambrose, a former West Indies and distinguished fast bowler.
Beaton captained Guyana under-19 team 2011 while he also skippered Essequibo at the Guyana Cricket Board senior inter-county competition. He went on to represent the regional team at the under-19 world cup tournament in Australia while he has featured for Guyana in all three versions, four-day, one-day and T20.
Having shown great aggression and hostility during his admirable career so far, many felt he has the potential to already attire in the prestigious maroon colours and without hesitation, he mentioned that he is also looking forward to that with great intensity.
“I am fast and bowling with control and certainly I looking forward for a West Indies’ pick this year, but I know I have to take wickets on a consistent basis and impress the selectors; a good opportunity once selected in the final XI to showcase my talent at the 50-over tournament in Trinidad and Tobago,” Beaton, who missed the inaugural Caribbean Premier League T20 last year owing to injury, divulged.
After facing Ireland, Guyana will then tackle Windward Islands and defending champion Jamaica. Group B consists of the hosts, Leeward Islands, Barbados and CCC.
The Guyanese combination will be led by West Indies ebullient T20 all-rounder Christopher Barnwell and includes veteran batsmen Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan. The last time Guyana tasted success in this version of regional cricket was 2005, but since then the trophy has become an elusive commodity.