Leewards camp for Carib Beer Series

CHARLESTOWN: The Leeward Islands, bidding for their first regional four-day title in six years, opened their 2004 Carib Beer Series training camp on Monday at Grove Park under the guidance of coach Hayden Walsh. The nine-day camp will prepare the squad for their first-round match against Trinidad and Tobago, an away fixture at Guaracara Park, Pointe-a-Pierre next week Friday, and Walsh says they have a lot of work to cover in a short time. “We don’t have any time, andbecause of the Leewards’ poor financial situation we can’t afford to get together early as we intended to, but we are working on a couple of areas that we think will help to shape the players for the upcoming tournament,” Walsh told CMC Sport.

The “intense” camp is focusing on the physical, technical and tactical aspects of the game for the 22 players, and ends on January 6. A four-day trial match will be played from January 2 to 5 and team selection will be done at the end of the match. There will be seminars and workshops on various topics — mental toughness, being good ambassadors, team philosophy, and team building. The Leewards last won a regional four-day title in 1998 when they shared the President’s Cup with Guyana. Leewards squad - Stuart Williams (captain), Alex Adams (vice-captain), Sylvester Joseph, Shane Jeffers, Junie Mitchum, Wilden Cornwall, Ian Tittle, Mali Richards, Austin Richards Jnr., Carl Tuckett, Tonito Willett, Kerry Jeremy, Dane Weston, Carl Simon, Elsroy Powell, Chaka Hodge, Joel Symmonds, Gavin Tonge, McPherson Meade, Jason Williams, Virgil Browne, Larry Joseph.