TT open against Barbados

Trinidad and Tobago will come up against last year’s beaten finalist Barbados when the 2004 regional limited overs cricket series opens in Guyana next month. TT, to be led by Daren Ganga and including West Indies star Brian Lara were beaten at the semi-final stage last year. The Trinidad and Tobago senior team selectors are expected to name the list of players to go on trials this week and they will host two matches this coming weekend at the National Cricket Centre (NCC), Balmain.

The matches to be sponsored by Angostura will be played between the Rush XI and the XS XI. The Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) recently appointed David Williams as coach and Omar Khan manager of the national team. And the players who are not on the West Indies team preparing for the upcoming Champions Trophy series in England are expected to turn up at the NCC from Tuesday to start physical training for the one-dayers. Holders Guyana begin their defence of the championship against Windward Islands on October 9 at Hampton Court. Under a new format, this year’s competition is being played between the six traditional teams — Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Trinidad and Tobago and Windward Islands — with the two preliminary phases that will be contested on a round-robin basis.

The first round will be hosted in Guyana and the second will be held in Grenada, whose main ground, Queen’s Park, will not be used, since it is undergoing renovations ahead of the ICC World Cup West Indies 2007. The new format excludes expansion teams like West Indies “B,” University of the West Indies, Bermuda, Canada and United States, all of whom have appeared in the competition during the last five years, when it was sponsored by Red Stripe. Since 2003 was the final year of Red Stripe sponsorship, the West Indies Cricket Board are  seeking a new title sponsor and a leading TT-headquartered financial institution has been linked with the competition.  The top four teams in this year’s competition move on to the Final Four that will be contested in Barbados, with the semi-finals set for October 28 and 29, and the final scheduled for October 31.