Confident TT tackle Windwards

TRINIDAD and Tobago’s cricketers are confident going into their match against the Windward Islands today. The Carib Beer Cricket Series fourth round regional match starts today at the Arnos Vale Recreation Ground from 10 am. Skipper Daren Ganga and his players had their final preparation yesterday afternoon at the country’s Test venue while the Windwards used the morning session to fine-tune their preparations.

Jamaica and Guyana will clash in the other fourth round fixture which starts today. They are scheduled to square-off at the Kensington Park in Jamaica. These two matches have been brought forward. Having received only four points in their rain-affected third round match against Leeward Islands at the Queen’s Park Oval, on Monday, TT will have to pull out all stops to secure outright victory and 12 vital points to close the gap on front-runner Jamaica who are ahead by 16 points. They will be hoping that the Guyanese will also lift their game and stop the rampant Jamaicans who have registered three consecutive victories over Leewards, Windwards and Barbados. TT’s first round match against Guyana was also rain-ruined and both teams collected 12 points for a “no decision,” as was the case against Leewards at The Oval.

But their hopes have been kept alive by their stunning second round 48-run victory over Barbados at the North Stars-Crab Hill Ground, St Lucy in Barbados. For the clash with Windwards, TT will miss the services of reliable West Indies youth opener Tishan Maraj who featured in the match-winning 162-run fourth wicket partnership with Imran Jan against Barbados. The 20-year-old stroke-player was forced to opt out of this match because of his studies. His replacement is his FCB Clarke Road’s teammate Gregory Mahabir who performed with credit in the President’s Cup tournament.

Mahabir is also a gritty customer and returns to regional cricket after representing the West Indies B team for the 2003 and 2004 seasons. His highest is 71 versus Guyana. But his position on the starting eleven will be determined today. Skipper Ganga expressed optimism of the team’s chances for outright victory but stressed that their first major goal is to at least secure first innings points. “We are very confident of doing well against Windward Islands along this is their home match. We will be striving for outright victory but our first major goal is to get first innings points.” “For us to achieve our goals, we need a big team effort. Windwards do not have too many star players but they play as a team. We also don’t have the star players but are focussed on team goals. I expect all the players to fight hard so that we start infront and get first innings points. Then we will take it from there,” Ganga said.

Looking ahead to the overall standings, Ganga recognises the need for the players to play tougher to stay in contention. “For each new round, the competition gets tougher and our players will have to be more focussed and do the elementary things to the best of their abilities. We are more confident in our abilities and I am backing my team to give a good account. We are determined to close the gap on Jamaica and we have to do it this match before we play them in the next round,” he said. Windwards took the fight to the Guyanese and collected first innings points. They almost won the match outright and will once again be dependent on Rawle Lewis (captain), Test opener Devon Smith, former West Indies wicketkeeper Junior Murray and regional youth players Darren Sammy and Kenroy Peters—  all of whom are showing good form.

TT team: Daren Ganga (captain), Denesh Ramdin (vice-captain), Sherwin Ganga, Gregory Mahabir, Lendl Simmons, Imran Jan, Shazam Babwah, Richard Kelly, Dave Mohammed, Amit Jaggernauth, Kyron Lynch, Rayad Emrit and Samuel Badree.
Umpires are Goland Greaves and Luther Kelly. Standby is K. Whyttle.