As Guyana Harpy Eagles bask in the glory of being crowned champions of regional first-class cricket, their captain Leon Johnson is feeling mighty proud of his team’s performance throughout the action-packed season.
The ebullient Johnson had the honor of raising the Headley-Weekes Trophy, capping off the final day of his professional career on Saturday the Guyana National Stadium. This came moments after his team performed a miracle with the ball to bowl out Leeward Islands Hurricanes on an eventful final morning. This kept them at the top of the table in the West Indies Championship.
Chasing 143 to win, the Hurricanes started the day on 81-1, and at 91-1, they looked set for a comfortable victory. However, off-spinner Kevin Sinclair with an incredible spell of bowling removed key Leewards batsmen and caused a collapse. Guyana ended the tournament with 84.0 points, Windward Islands Volcanoes were second on 74.2 points, while last year’s champions Barbados Pride ended third on 55.6 points.
Johnson was overcome with emotion shortly after his team achieved the remarkable comeback and he received the Headley-Weekes trophy from Enoch Lewis, Cricket West Indies Director. He was full of praise for his team.
“This was a great performance … a great team performance and I’m massively proud of everyone who contributed towards us winning. We worked hard before the season, and we worked hard throughout this season. We were really tested in this final match, and we responded to the challenge with a magnificent win,” Johnson said.
“One of the great things about the season was the progress made by the young players in the team. At various times they stood up with major performances and that was great to see. We made progress. Also, a tribute to the senior players who also led from the front, offered invaluable advice and made my job as captain easier on and off the field. Thanks to the fans and all those persons who backed us from start to finish. As a proud Guyanese, I retire from the game lifting this prestigious trophy and also happy that I can bring smiles to the faces of the supporters.”
Guyana played unbeaten and had to overcome a few challenges. They started with a hard-fought win against Barbados Pride at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua – thanks to a debut century from Matthew Nandu and a five-wicket burst from Nial Smith. Next match they traveled to Grenada and had to dig deep to earn a draw against the Windwards in Grenada, which required a rearguard from the lower order.
When the tournament restarted they painted the town red and had a solid all-around match to record a comfortable victory win over Trinidad & Tobago Red Force at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy. This was marked by a breakthrough century from Kemol Savory and a memorable landmark by Veerasammy Permaul who took his 512th wicket for Guyana to become the leading wicket-taker in regional first-class history.
They returned home to the fortress at the Guyana National Stadium, where they had a massive win by 228 runs over Jamaica Scorpions. The highlight was Johnson’s 150 not out in the first innings and 138 not out and by Tevin Imlach in the second as they took the sting out of the Scorpions.
The final match of the season against the Leeward Islands Hurricanes proved to be a blockbuster. The visitors put up a determined fight and it wasn’t until the epic final morning that Sinclair weaved his magic to earn his team the right to bask in the glory of being crowned champions.