TT get five U-19 WI picks

Captain Jason Mohammed heads the list from the double-crowned championship team in the 20-man West Indies squad that will enter a one-month training camp in December-January.

The TT players selected are Sunil Narine, who was adjudged the best bowler at the tournament, Kyron Pollard, who was voted best fieldsman, Rishi Bachan, "Man-of-the-Match" in the final of the three-day series and batsman William Perkins.

Trinidad and Tobago achieved the historic "double" winning the limited overs and three-day competition at the recently concluded TCL West Indies Under-19 Cricket tournament in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

The talented Adrian Barath also picked up a "Man-of-the-Match" award in the final of the limited-overs against Barbados on Friday.

But even as the young cricketers were being congratulated in song by budding calypsonian Hezekiah Joseph of the TCL Group of Companies at a return reception in the VIP Lounge of the Piarco International Airport yesterday, Manager Roland Sampath felt his team should have received six or seven picks.

Sampath is also in line to be selected as manager of the team, after being at the helm of two Trinidad and Tobago Under-19 teams to do the "double", this year and in 2003 in Guyana.

The former national all-rounder credits the development programmes of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board of Control (TTCB) for the unprecedented achievements of national teams at regional level. Trinidad and Tobago are the current title-holders of the President’s Cup, Under-15 champions and now double-crowned Under-19 winners.

Sampath, a former policeman, said yesterday his staff deliberately took the decision to carry more batsmen to this year’s tournament because he realised that the bowlers were having the upper hand in the series in previous years.

He described the team as "a disciplined and committed bunch of players" who worked hard and pulled their weight as a team.

Sampath noted that with their success, the Trinidad and Tobago team has now claimed four of the five titles that the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has at stake.

He said the only one that eludes TT is the Busta Cup League Championship which they will be preparing for.

TTCB President Ellis Lewis told the Piarco gathering that the Under-19 triumphs came when there was a perception that the country is failing as a nation.

Lewis pointed out that there is a need for the board to be vigilant during the periods between 19 and 21 years, as it seems to be the most vulnerable ages in cricket.

Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs Roger Boynes said the success of the young players has been an inspiration to the nation’s youth.

He said Government has already made possible $85 million to the Sports Company of Trinidad and Tobago for the development of sport, which includes cricket. And it has recently approved another $120 million for further development of sport including cricket facilities.

Boynes said the WICB should take a page out of the TTCB book while corporate Trinidad and Tobago should not forget the 150 percent tax refund being offered by Government for its sponsorship and assistance to sports.