Cricketers arrive in St Vincent

TRINIDAD and Tobagos cricketers arrived in St Vincent and the Grenadines yesterday for their Carib Beer Series regional cricket match against the Windward Islands starting on Friday. The team, captained by Daren Ganga settled in, got some rest and then headed over to the Arnos Vale Recreation Ground for a three-hour training stint in the afternoon. Despite the frustration of losing three full days play against the Leewards because of rain at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain, captain Ganga and his youthful outfit are still riding high on the morale-boosting victory over Barbados in their second round clash.

They would be further energised by their ability to restrict the Leeward Islands team, which comprise the most experienced batting line-up in the tournament, to 195 for the loss of five wickets off 85 overs on Monday, final day of the rain-ruined encounter. It will also be a great psychological boost for the return ninth round fixture scheduled for March 4 to 7.

The return match between the two teams will be played at the Salem Park in Montserrat. And by that time the TT team will be strengthened with the return of Test players Brian Lara, Dwayne Bravo, Ricardo Powell and Mervyn Dillon who are currently in Australia vying for a place in the VB Series finals. The team’s aspirations for a regional league title, their first in 20 years, have been badly affected by adverse weather conditions especially in the first and third rounds.