Violence in Guyana could hamper team's preperations

Civil unrest in Guyana, where 11 people were reportedly killed on Saturday, could hamper the team's preparations for the Stanford 20/20 tournament. Albert Smith, the coach, fears the violence could affect the players mentally, especially those with families near the troubled areas.

Residents in West Berbice and parts of East Coast Demerara protested against the killings which took place in the village of Lusignan. Smith was left stranded in East Berbice, close to 70 miles from the capital Georgetown and the only road access to the city was blocked by irate residents. As a result, Smith could not attend the scheduled practice session on Monday.

"This nonsense is affecting the preparation of the Guyana Twenty20 team and is giving us [Guyana] a very bad image even as we prepare to the host the first Test against Sri Lanka in March," Smith told CMC. "It has to stop. Some of the players are from Berbice while [Zaheer] Mohamed and [Dion] Ferrier live on the East Coast, a few miles from where those people were murdered."

Though all but two of the 16-member squad are already in Georgetown, Smith said the violence could divert attention from the cricket. He also hoped for an early resolution to the crisis.

"Everybody in the 16-man squad, except Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Sewnarine Chattergoon, are already in Georgetown, but this shooting is sure to affect the guys mentally, especially those with families close to the troubled areas.

"If the guys hear an explosion on the street from a car's exhaust during a practice session it could trigger panic. I am not too sure how much they will be able to focus on the cricket right now. I hope the criminals will be caught and our country will return to normalcy as soon as possible."

Guyana face Bermuda in their opening match of the tournament in Antigua on February 10.