Young players get golden chance

YOUNG Trinidad and Tobago cricketers will get another golden opportunity to showcase their talent in the annual Pizza Hut/Gerry Gomez Classic which gets underway tomorrow at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain. This follows the withdrawal of five players and the unavailability of two others for the traditional North versus South match which precedes the naming of the Trinidad and Tobago team for the upcoming regional tournament. Hardest hit is the North team, captained by Imran Jan, who will have to do without the services of six players including West Indies stars Ricardo Powell, a Jamaican who lives in Trinidad and experienced fast bowler Mervyn Dillon.

Yesterday Dudnath Ramkessoon, chairman of the national selectors announced that both hard-hitting all-rounder Powell and Dillon were expected back home today from the three-week West Indies players’ training camp in Barbados. However, they will now be returning to Trinidad and Tobago on Friday which will rule them out of the match. In addition all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, who also attended the Barbados camp under new West Indies coach Bennett King suffered an unspecified injury and has been advised to rest dealing a further blow to the North team’s aspirations of regaining the Pizza Hut/Gerry Gomez Classic crown. Ramkessoon also announced that Jonathan Augustus would not play as he is still suffering from the trauma of being involved in an accident which took the lives of two persons two weeks ago while on the way to the national team practice match in California.

Also, fast bowler Reyad Emrit has a back spasm and middle-order batsman Lendl Simmons suffered a back strain. Both have been advised to rest. The South team, to be led by West Indies opener Daren Ganga has been fortunate not to be hard hit by injury or the unavailablity of players as only fast bowler Ravi Rampaul has been struck  from the squad. The CLICO Preysal player is recovering from an injury suffered on the West Indies tour of England earlier this year and has been deemed not ready to enter into the competitive arena just yet. Ramkesoon said yesterday the opportunity is being given once again to the young players who have been waiting in the wings. They include for North, Kyron Lynch, Samuel Felix, Petrock Nicholas, Justin Guillen and Mario Belcon — replacements for the players who are unavailable.

And for South, Brent Harriot has been drafted in. “It’s unfortunate the players have been hit by injury but it presents another window of opportunity for them to show they are capable of performing at the highest level,” said Ramkessoon. He also said that the players who will not participate in the Pizza Hut/Gerry Gomez Classic will still be considered when the national selectors meet to finalise the squad for the Carib Beer Series regional championship which bowls off on January 7. “It is not their fault that they got injured or are detained elsewhere making them unavailable. We have a responsibility to ensure that their problems are sorted out. And they will be selected based on their performances and history,” said Ramkessoon.

He said he was optimistic that the weather would hold up to allow a full four days of play since the cricketers are woefully short of match practice as at least two matches organised by the Cricket Board recently have been rained out. Prestige Holdings, parent company of Pizza Hut is offering $40,000 in prizes and incentives for the players and spectators at the annual match, for which admission is free. Cricket teams attending the match will get free pizza while there will be a “hit the stumps” competition at which $10,000 will be at stake for the winner. The players will also be bidding for valuable incentives for runs scored, wickets taken, catches held and run-outs made. The match is held in the memory of Gerry Gomez, one of Trinidad and Tobago’s greatest all-round cricketers, a former national captain and president of the Queen’s Park Cricket Club.

Revised Teams
NORTH: Imran Jan (captain), Ricardo Paty, Aneil Kanhai, Earnil Ryan, Richard Kelly, Leron Lezama, Shakeel Ali, Timul Ali, Kyron Lynch, Samuel Felix, Justin Guillen, Mario Belcon, Petrock Nicholas.
SOUTH: Daren Ganga (captain), Sherwin Ganga, Tishan Maraj, Gregory Mahabir, Shazam Babwah, Samuel Badree, Dinesh Ramdin, Dave Mohammed, Amit Jaggernauth, Theodore Modeste, Kenton Thompson, Rishi Bachan, Brent Harriot.