TT, Jamaica now at St Augustine

The four-day fixture starting on Friday was originally scheduled for the Wilson Road Recreation Ground in Penal.

But persistent heavy rain over the weekend has prevented the ground staff from adequately preparing the playing field for the First Class match.

As a result the Third Round regional fixture has been shifted to the University of the West Indies Ground at St Augustine.

The decision was made after Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board officials inspected the Wilson Road Recreation Ground on Monday and held discussions with the ground staff.

Trinidad and Tobago drew their first round match against the Leewards Islands in Anguilla early last month. And their second round clash with Barbados was postponed after inclement weather leading up to the December 9 start prevented preparation of the ground to a satisfactory level.

After a break for the Christmas holidays Trinidad and Tobago will stake their claim for senior regional honours under captain Daren Ganga who yesterday was handed a young team to tackle the Jamaicans.

Their chances will be boosted by the inclusion of Test players Dwayne Bravo and Denesh Ramdin just back from a succesful tour of Australia with the West Indies team.

However the notable omission is fast bowler Mervyn Dillon who was not included in the 14-member squad announced yesterday by the Cricket Board. Dillon, 31, has played 38 Tests and 108 One-Day Internationals for the West Indies taking 130 and 131 wickets respectively in both versions of the game.

However he has been dropped to make way for several young, talented bowlers who staked their claim for inclusion in the national team in the recent series of trial matches.

Yesterday chairman of the national selectors Dudnath Ramkessoon said that the tall pacer has been omitted for the Jamaica match only and has every opportunity to force himself back on the team.

Ramkessoon said the selectors felt that based on current form they will place their confidence in the trio of Richard Kelly, Bravo and Rayad Emrit.

While the experienced Dillon has been omitted, the selectors called up 18-year-old Jason Mohammed who struck a fine 133 in the trial match last week.

Ramkessoon said Mohammed came through the local cricket development system and shows great promise having captained the Under-19 team to a double victory last year in the regional championships.

"He batted with great discipline and maturity and we hope he takes it to a higher level. He has been exposed and did well also in the domestic competition and will be a player for the future no doubt," Ramkessoon said. Manager of the national team is Omar Khan with David Williams as coach.

Trinidad and Tobago squad: Daren Ganga (captain), Denesh Ramdin (vice-captain),Tishan Maraj, Gregory Mahabir, Rayad Emrit, Sanjeev Gooljar, Imran Khan, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Bravo, Jason Mohammed, Richard Kelly, Dave Mohammed, Amit Jaggernauth, Sherwin Ganga.