Cricket Board offer psychological counselling

THE THREE cricketers involved in a fatal car accident on Sunday will be offered psychological; counselling to help them cope with the tragedy. This commitment has been given by Dudnath Ramkessoon, Chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago Selection Panel who said yesterday that the cricket board were very concerned about the players in the aftermath of the smashup. Two persons were killed when a pick-up truck driven by Trinidad and Tobago batsman Jonathan Augustus skidded off the Uriah Butler Highway near the Endeavour turn-off and ploughed into a bus-shed where several persons were sheltering from the rain. In his company were fellow national player Earnil Ryan, a Tranquillity Secondary School student and Samuel Felix who has played at the Under-19 level.

The trio were on their way to Gilbert Park, California for the fourth and final day’s play in the first trial organised to prepare the national team for the upcoming Carib Beer Series regional tournament. Yesterday, Ramkessoon said that the cricketers were obviously traumatised by the turn of events and everything is being put into place to have them mentally prepared to get on with their lives with whatever assistance can be given through the Cricket Board. “They are shaken up and understandably so. It is an experience that is likely to remain with them for the rest of their lives. They are very young and their fragile mental state will need some support which we are ready to provide,” said Ramkessoon. He said their condition will be monitored closely over the next couple days to ascertain whether they are fit to resume practice with their colleagues in the second four-day trial scheduled to get underway on Thursday at the National Cricket Centre Ground in Balmain, Couva.

Ramkessoon said the national players were robbed of valuable practice when rain severely curtailed the first four-day match which ended on Sunday at Gilbert Park. He is hoping that the  weather improves this week to allow the cricketers some time in the middle to fine-tune their preparations for the new season which gets underway on January 9 with the opening match against Guyana at Balmain. “Although work indoors and in the nets are necessary it is absolutely important that the cricketers get match practice. The bowlers need to bowl flat out, batsmen have to get long innings and the fieldsmen must have the oportunity to sharpen their skills,” said Ramkessoon. Following this weekend’s trial, the national cricketers will be back in action next week in the annual North versus South Gerry Gomez Classic, which leads up to the naming of the national team for the regional championship.

By that time Ramkessoon hopes to have several players back following their strint in the three-week training camp under new West Indies coach Bennett King currently underway in Barbados. The Trinidad and Tobago players involved in the 25-man squad are double world record-holder for batting Brian Lara, Mervyn Dillon, Dwayne Bravo, Daren Ganga, Sherwin Ganga, Dinesh Ramdin and Ricardo Powell. Ramkessoon said he cannot say who will be selected but he expects Trinidad and Tobago to field a close to full-strength team capable of winning the four-day league championship and the challenge trophy. Fielding an inexperienced side two months ago, Trinidad and Tobago defied the odds in winning the President’s Cup regional limited overs competition with one of the most remarkable runs in West Indies cricket history.