Windwards manager praises Cricket Board

MANAGER of the Windward Islands cricket team has heaped lavish praise of the officials of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board. Lockhart Sebastien said on Monday that he was very grateful for the invitation extended to the Windward Islands cricketers to train and practice in Trinidad and Tobago following the recent  destruction caused by Hurricane Ivan especially in Grenada. The visitors arrived last Thursday and have been based at the Sir Frank Worrell Development Centre at Balmain Village in Couva. “All arrangements have been great. We are very happy to accept the invitation extended to us. We need more of this type of inter-regional exchanges,” said the former stylish opening batsman.

Sebastien said that the aim was to get the players as much match practice as possible and he was happy with the effort of his team especially in the two limited overs fixtures against Trinidad and Tobago. The Windwards, on the back of opener Devon Smith, who agonisingly fell one run short of a well deserved century, and veteran John Eugene (75) beat their hosts by 40 runs on Sunday in the first of the back-to-back 50-overs matches. The other contest, on Monday, was rain-affected with Trinidad and Tobago scoring 204 for eight wickets in the innings reduced to 40 overs. “We accomplished what we came to do. I am quite happy with the performance of the guys with the bat and ball,” Sebastien said. He however said that their fielding needs some work and he hopes to tighten up on that aspect of their game in the remaining days in Trinidad and Tobago which will be spent in Port-of-Spain.

Both Trinidad and Tobago and the Windwards are preparing for the regional limited overs tournament which will begin in Guyana on Saturday.
Trinidad and Tobago, captained by Daren Ganga and fielding a new-look team after injury ruled out their key players come up against Barbados at Enmore in the opening match on Saturday. The Windwards play back-to-back matches against Guyana and Jamaica on Saturday and Sunday respectively. Sebastien said he was very impressed with the facilities at the Sir Frank Worrell Development Centre and suggested that the ground could be improved with some landscaping and the planting of trees. He said that the players have never been to any comparable facility like that at Balmain and wished that every country in the Caribbean had one to nurture the cricketing skills of their respective players.

Sebastien said that the aim of the Windwards was to get into the final four to compete in the second phase of the competition in Barbados. “One-day cricket is very competitive. The winner is the one who plays better on the day and we hope we can upset a few teams,” said Sebastien. The visitors will be engaged in their final training match today from 9.30 am at the Barataria Oval against a team led by former Trinidad and Tobago allrounder Kelvin Williams. Included in the team are left-arm spinner Dave “Tadpole”Mohammed who ruled himself ineligible for national selection; Imran Khan, recently voted “Player of the Year” at Alescon Comet; and fast bowler Atiba Alert, who just failed to gain inclusion on the squad to Guyana.
The players are asked to be at the ground on Lower Sixth Avenue at 8.30 am.

KELVIN WILLIAMS SQUAD: Kelvin Williams (captain), Dave Mohammed, Haroun Hosein, Joseph Carimbocas, Innis Hernandez, Ray Campbell, Sean Siloch, Sanjeev Gooljar, Joel Pamphille, Samuel Felix, Devon Clement, Junior Gibbs, Imran Khan, Atiba Alert.

WINDWARDS SQUAD: Rawl Lewis (captain), Junior Murray, Devon Smith, Alvin LeFuille, Craig Emmanuel, John Eugene, Liam Sebastian, Darren Sammy, Lyndon James, Deighton Butler, Shane Shillingford, Orlenzo Jackson, Kenroy Peters, Fernix Thomas.