Rain washes out first day’s play at Balmain

A WATER-LOGGED outfield forced an abandonment of the first day’s play between Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana in the opening round of the Carib Beer Series regional cricket tournament at the National Cricket Centre in Balmain, Couva. Umpires Camal Basdeo and Basil Morgan as well as match inspector Mohammed Hosein made an inspection at 12.30 pm and declared that the conditions were unsafe and unplayable for a competitive match. Coach Williams was philosophical but hopeful that there will be play today. “With one day lost because of the conditions, our plan will now change depending upon the amount of time available.”

The entire TT contingent worked out for two hours between 10 am and noon at the Sir Frank Worrell Development Centre Angostura Indoor Nets while the Guyanese squad did their two-hour session from 1 pm. Guyana’s coach Albert Smith was disappointed with the loss of the first day’s play. He declared that his team is better prepared than previous years and are just bubbling to get into action. “I am a bit disappointed we had no play because of the rain but we do understand that’s nature and we can’t change it. I am hoping that everything will be OK for tomorrow (today) and the match will get started and we would have as much time as possible to play good cricket,” Smith said.

“We have a very young team with players with a lot of talent. But they will now have to produce good performances consistently for us to be successful. They understand and are working hard to be fully fit for the challenge ahead,” he said. “I must say that I am really pleased with their level of fitness which they showed during our preparation back home. We had West Indies former coach Roger Harper doing a lot of physicals and tactical work with them indoors at the gymnasium. The guys are better prepared physically, tactically and technically and I expect better results this year,” the manager added.

Teams:
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO (from): Daren Ganga (captain), Sherwin Ganga, Lendl Simmons, Ricardo Powell, Shazam Babwah, Imran Jan, Samuel Badree, Dinesh Ramdin (wicketkeeper), Richard Kelly, Dave Mohammed, Rishi Bachan, Amit Jaggernauth, Kyron Lynch and Theodore Modeste. Officials are Giles Antoine (manager), David Williams (coach), Gerard Garcia (trainer) and Rohit Balkissoon (scorer).
GUYANA (from): Damodar Daesrath (captain), Narsingh Deonarine (vice-captain), Krishna Arjune, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Ryan Ramdass, Assad Fudadin, Troy Cornelius, Neil McGarrell, Mahendra Nagamootoo, Vishal Nagamootoo (wicketkeeper), Imran Jafarally, Trevon Garraway and Rayon Thomas. Officials are Carl Moore (manager) and Albert Smith (coach). Umpires are Camal Basdeo (TT) and Basil Morgan (J?ca). Stand-by is Kasso Dowlath (TT).