Ramdin picked to lead Windies ‘B’

Trinidad and Tobago have received three picks on the West Indies “B” team for the upcoming Carib Beer Series regional cricket tournament. Among the selections is prize role of skipper which went to wicketkeeper/batsman Dinesh Ramdin. The dogged stroke-player who was named captain of the West Indies Under-19 team for the International Cricket Council (ICC) Youth World Cup will serve as captain until the end of the second round when he leaves with the regional team for Bangladesh. Ramdin will have on the team fellow Trinidadians Gregory Mahabir who played for the “B” team last year and another Youth World Cup selectee, Lendl Simmons.

Mahabir enjoyed a fruitful season with the “B” team last year but was not selected on the Trinidad and Tobago team for the Carib Beer Series. His partner Aneil Kanhai who played with him on the “B” team slammed a double hundred against Trinidad and Tobago last season. He has since been chosen to wear the national colours for the regional tournament. The replacements for Ramdin and Simmons who will leave at the end of January are yet to be determined by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) selectors. Meanwhile all three players will be on show in the annual Pizza Hut Gerry Gomez North/South Classic at the Queen’s Park Oval on Friday morning.

The elevation of Ramdin to captain of the “B” team continues a recent trend in West Indies cricket where Trinidadians are being elected as leaders. Trinidadian Brian Lara is the captain of the West Indies team, while Ramdin has been named captain of the Under-19 team. Ramdin will also take charge of the West Indies “B” team, while the last West Indies “A” team tour took place with another Trinidadian Daren Ganga at the helm. Trinidadians are also making their presence felt on the management team with Gus Logie as coach of the senior team and Roland Sampath manager of the Under-19 squad.