Congratulations to Guyana Harpy Eagles (GHE), although the victory in the West Indies Championship for 2025 was tainted by the accusation of cheating by a few of their players in the final round of the tournament at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain, against the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force (TTRF).
This was the detection by the on-field umpires of ball-tampering by the Guyanese fieldsmen during the game. It was unnecessary to resort to this unsportsmanlike behaviour to win their final game after playing so well to reach that advantageous position. It was disappointing.
One can only be left to wonder whether the previous matches in which they came out on top, were achieved by this underhanded method as well. I hope not, as the way I see it, in any sport one cannot feel the joy of winning by using despicable methods. Plus, the GHE are a pretty good side that really didn’t need to resort to that type of conduct.
The TTRF were six points shy of the GHE before the start of the final round of this important tournament with both teams poised to take the title. However, the home team were missing their two main fast bowlers in Jayden Seales and Anderson Phillip who were both whisked away to England to enhance a couple of English County teams while leaving their home team impotent in the fast bowling department, through no fault of their own, but that needs to be addressed by Cricket West Indies.
The disappointment for TTRF really began in the first innings after being sent in to bat. It was a typical first-class cricket wicket where there is help at first when the pitch still possesses its preparation moisture. This usually lasts until lunch. However, the day was cloudy and there were stoppages for rain although brief.
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Nevertheless, with the cloud cover for most of the day, it meant that the pitch would give help to seam bowling, plus the spinners would get some turn, although slow. This is the reason why opening batsmen need a sound technique, like playing with a straight bat, playing as late as possible, and knowing when to leave alone and when to play. Numbers three and four have to adjust if early wickets fall or if there’s already a good score on the board.
Interestingly, Kamil Pooran played a loose stroke at one that should have been left alone, was caught behind the wicket and only managed four runs. The two best batsmen on the team are the left-handed Amir Jangoo and the right-handed Jason Mohammed. Jangoo, who recently made his Test debut in Pakistan and did well, surprisingly looked out of touch. His front foot was not close enough to the line of the ball and he was caught at the wicket.
Enter Mohammed. Both these batsmen already had three centuries apiece in the competition and huge things were expected of them. It was not to be. Mohammed, the most experienced batsman on the team, got one that bounced more than expected and the right-hander, already committed to his stroke, was out caught at backward point after
