Skipper Ganga confident of success

TRINIDAD and Tobago cricket captain Daren Ganga has expressed confidence that his team will be successful in the Carib Beer Cricket Series which gets underway tomorrow with three first round matches. TT will take on Guyana in the opening round four-day encounter at the National Cricket Centre, Balmain starting at 10 am. Ganga and his squad are buoyed with their President’s Cup limited-overs victory over Guyana last year October 31. And they are taking the positive approach into the four-day competition which was evident during the Limited-overs series. Ganga recognises that the new format with ten rounds, five home and away matches, will challenge all the players physically and mentally.

“The Carib Beer Series is going to be tough and a big challenge for all the players. But we are capable of rising to the occasion as we showed in the President’s Cup last year. I know that the four-day competition will be demanding both mentally and physically. And I think we are ready for the challenge but will take one match at a time,” Ganga said. “We have the right bunch of quality players who are determined to do well and to justify their selections. I am impressed with their attitude to our training sessions and also their desire to want to win the four-day title as well,” he stressed. Ganga also commenting on the failure of the specialist batsmen in the two-day practice match against W-Connection Wanderers.

“The pitch was two-paced and not one where you could pick up the bounce of the ball properly. But it’s not an excuse for us not getting bigger scores. The pitch at the National Cricket Centre is a better one and hopefully we will get it right and win our first match. That is our focus at this time. We want to win the first match and to build the momentum from there,” he said. Ganga said he is satisfied with the team’s composition. “We have a nice blend of experience and younger players who are keen to do well. In the batting, Lendl Simmons will open the batting with Sherwin who has shown that he can take on the new ball attack,” Ganga said. “Simmons opened for the West Indies ‘B’ team and also played for the West Indies youth team.

“He is a very good player and with Sherwin who also did well in the President’s Cup, I expect them to give us a good start. Then there is myself, Ricardo (Powell), Shazam (Babwah) and Imran Jan. All of us are experienced players now and we have our own roles and responsibilities in the team. And I know I can depend upon the guys to lift their game and fight harder throughout,” he said. “Dinesh is also batting well while Richard Kelly and Dave Mohammed have shown they can be depended upon to get runs at crucial stages,” Ganga said.

“In the bowling department, I am impressed with newcomer Kyron Lynch and Rishi Bachan and they will provide the right balance along with Amit Jaggernauth and Dave (Mohammed). I think we have a very good team, well balanced with youth and experience and we will be playing hard to win the competition,” he declared. The TT squad will train today at the Inshan Ali Park, Preysal from 9 am to noon while the Guyana’s contingent, which was due to arrive last night, will also be working out at the Joe Public Munroe Road Recreation ground at the same time.

TT squad comprise Daren Ganga (captain), Sherwin Ganga, Lendl Simmons, Ricardo Powell, Shazam Babwah, Imran Jan, Samuel Badree, Dinesh Ramdin, Richard Kelly, Dave Mohammed, Rishi Bachan, Amit Jaggernauth, Kyron Lynch and Theodore Modeste. The officials Giles Antoine (manager), David Williams (coach), Gerard Garcia (trainer) and Rohit Balkissoon (scorer).