TT cricketers aim to stay alive

And last night, manager of the team, former national fast bowler Giles Antoine speaking from the Dover Beach Hotel said anything is possible as the defending champions face a must-win situation to stay alive in the competition.

"We are going out with the intention of playing very hard cricket and to be victorious at the end of the day," said Antoine.

He admitted that Trinidad and Tobago, captained by Daren Ganga have not batted well and hit by injuries to two key players were hardpressed to exert any dominance in their two opening matches.

But he has not ruled out an element of luck playing its part if Trinidad and Tobago are to win their next three matches and qualify for the final four stage in Guyana.

Antoine said that on Monday, the Trinidad and Tobago bowlers restricted the Windwards to a gettable score despite a disclipined batting performance by islanders whose last four batsmen posted more than a hundred runs.

However poor batting and injuries to Test players Denesh Ramdin and Dwayne Bravo meant that Trinidad and Tobago were always up against it, even playing with an extra batsman eventually falling short by 14 runs.

And on the following day against Barbados, former West Indies wicketkeeper Coutney Browne chanced his hand to give the hosts a challenging total.

"But we did not work to plan at the death as our batting failed. With the injuries no one stepped foward and then the rain played some tricks on us forcing the Duckworth-Lewis system into play," said Antoine.

"Denesh broke two teeth but is alright. However Bravo felt a twitch in his back and felt some spasms. We will assess his fitness to see if he will play. He could be picked as a batsman only," said Antoine last night.

He said despite being beaten the players have the desire to go further in the tournament.

"We have the ability as ten of the 14 players could be classified allrounders. We are playing every match with the expectation to win," said Antoine.