Semi-Pro Cricket League coming

A Semi-Professional Cricket League in Trinidad and Tobago will soon be a reality. Confirmation came at the launch of the 2006 Carib National Cricket League at the Carib Brewery Hospitality Suite at Champs Fleurs on Wednesday. Dr Allen Sammy, Chairman of the National League said his board has embarked on a development drive and the new league will play an important part in this thrust. The start of the competition is however two years away but it has already been decided that matches will be played on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday of each week. Sammy also revealed that for the first time there will be a Tobago team in the Carib National League next year.  He said arrangements have been made between the board and the Sports Company of Trinidad and Tobago (SCOTT) to fund the team from the sister-isle, in providing airfare and accommodation.

The inclusion of Tobago in the competition means that the number of teams for the National League will be increased from 16 to 17.   Sammy said in response to calls for more cricket during the season, his board will experiment with the longer version of the game by increasing the number of playing days, from two to three. He said teams will now be required to bowl 240 overs as oppose to the mandatory 210 that constitute a match. Sammy also revealed that attempts are being made to spread the sport along  the East/West corridor in a move to spur activity in the zone. He said the Cricket Board will also lend their assistance to the various clubs to restructure the different teams in the domestic competition.

Sammy said it may not only mean financial assistance, but help in human resources and other areas such as community relations. He added that through community relations, the teams will not only enhance the performance of the team but improve the attendance at matches. Colin Murray, Carib’s Sponsorship and Events Manager  suggested that a new Twenty20 cricket tournament be added to the normal domestic competition next year. Murray said the tournament will spark excitement similar to what is happening internationally. Meanwhile, Forbes Persaud the board secretary has said that they are interested in the offer by Antiguan businessman Allen Stanford to hold a developmental Twenty-20 cricket tournament early next year.

However he said that the TTCB will await the decision by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) before they can accept the offer to play in the league. Persaud said the TTCBC has held talks with Stanford’s representatives who assured them that the league was not going to be a one-shot competition, but one that will be used as a development took in the years to come. Accepting the offer to play in the tournament would have ensured the local cricket board US$180,000, but it also would have meant going against a recent policy decision taken by the respective boards that make up the WICB. Sammy also said emphasis is going to be placed in the coming year on the Secondary Schools Cricket League (SCCL) and the Primary Schools League.