Hosts TT begin regional title defence today

TT will play Barbados in Round One at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba.

The round-robin tournament features five rounds of matches with matches also being contested at Gilbert Park (Couva), National Cricket Centre (Couva) and at the Queen’s Park Oval (St Clair).

The other Round One matches will see Guyana facing Windwards Islands at Gilbert Park, while Leeward Islands and Jamaica will battle at the National Cricket Centre.

Coach of the TT team David Furlonge said the team’s strength is their bowling.

“We have two excellent fast bowlers in Jayden Seales and Ronaldo Forrester as both of them are also on the Under-19 squad. We also have some good young spinners there.” Top performances from Forrester and Seales will help TT ’s title hopes as bonus points will be given for every wicket taken by a fast bowler. Mbeki Joseph will captain the TT team, while the quartet of Avinash Mahabirsingh, Leonardo Julien, Leonardo Francis and Tobagonian Joshua James are the returning players from 2016.

Furlonge said the team that is the most prepared will lift the title.

“We will all start off as equals.

They are all young teams, but the team that is prepared the best I think will come out on top.” Furlonge said playing at home is a plus as some players on the team are familiar with the venues being used in the tournament.

“We are playing at the Brian Lara Academy (today) which will be new to both teams, but then we play at NCC and at the Oval.

We have been able to get practice matches at both those venues. A few fellas play club cricket at Gilbert Park, so yes the guys should be accustom to the conditions.”

TT SQUAD: Mbeki Joseph (captain), Leonardo Julien (vice-captain), Tariq Mohammed, Avinash Mahabirsingh, Nicholas Ali, Jayden Seales, Giovanni Letren, Michael Ambard, Sachin Soodeen, Sameer Ali, Ronaldo Forrester, Leonardo Francis, Rivaldo Ramlochan, Joshua James; David Furlonge (coach), Surujdath Mahabir (manager).

FIXTURES - Today: TT vs Barbados, Brian Lara Cricket Academy (BLCA), Tarouba; Guyana vs Windward Islands, Gilbert Park (GP), Couva; Leeward Islands vs Jamaica, National Cricket Centre (NCC), Couva.

Thursday: Windward Islands vs Barbados, NCC; TT vs Jamaica, GP; Leeward Islands vs Guyana, BLCA.

Saturday: Barbados vs Jamaica, NCC; Windward Islands vs Leeward Islands, BLCA; TT vs Guyana, Queen’s Park Oval (QPO), St Clair.

Sunday: Leeward Islands vs Barbados, NCC; Guyana vs Jamaica, QPO; TT vs Windward Islands, BLCA.

July 18: Guyana vs Barbados, GP; TT vs Leeward Islands, NCC; Jamaica vs Windward Islands, BLCA.