Boynes puts faith in Cricket Board

Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs, Roger Boynes believes the programme of of training  pursued by the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) is beginning to bear fruits. He said he could not come to any other conclusion after the national cricketers won the recent regional limited overs championship with a team that few people thought would have performed so brilliantly. This was the essence of a speech that Minister Boynes sent to the third batch of inductees at the National Cricket Centre in Balmain, Couva on Friday night.

The speech was delivered by Misri Lutchmedial, personal secretary to Boynes, who could not attend the function due an emergency in his constituency of Toco/Manzanilla, but asked Lutchmedial to represent him. “I am upbeat about the progress of the young cricket team which clearly demonstrates that the progress  graph is moving in an upward direction,” his speech stated. The minister’s message congratulated the TTCB for initiating the training programme for the youngsters. “That is certainly the way to go if we want to continue dominating cricket in the region.” Lutchmedial said Minister Boynes gave the assurance that the Government would continue to support the development of the game, especially youth cricket, and paid tribute to the TTCB “as being one of the best organised sports associations in the country.”

“We are your partners  working towards the improvement of cricket in every sense and would further like to see the introduction of a Semi-Professional League mainly so the cricketers would gain additional benefit from  their invovlement considering the few years of cricket that each player enjoys,” he stated. Ellis Lewis, president of the TTCB, hoped that the inductees would one day be on the shortlist of players for the West Indies without the challenges now being faced by the present crop of players. Lewis advised the inductees to improve their self esteem, a pre-requisite to success and to believe in themselves and their ability. “With commitment and dedication you will surely be on the road to success,” Lewis said.

He said the programme has been planned for the players to improve their skills, talent and ability. “And side by side with that the aim is for improvement also in your mental state and physical well-being, as well as diet and nutrition,” Lewis said. “You will also be taught how to deal with crisis situations and inter-personal relationships, since you will be a member of a team,” Lewis said. The inductees were: Petrock Nicholas, Rishaad Harris, Manoj Sirju, Justin Guillen, Deon Bennett, Magnum Nanan, Rakesh Ramkissoon, Kevon Francois, Darrol Marchan,  Rishi Bachan, Jason Mohammed, Anderson Beharry, Keejan Roy, Kavesh Kantasingh, William Perkins, Ansil Bhagan,  Mario  Belcon, Kerwyn Mohammed, Kareem Mohammed, Shastri Samaroo, Kieron Pollard,Anderson Bryce, Jeean Ramroop, and Kervon Christmas.