Chan top graduate of Cricket Centre

Trinidad and Tobago have failed to deliver when it comes to success at regional cricket. This criticism comes from Alloy Lequay, president of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board of Control (TTCBC). The long serving Lequay was at the time addressing the first graduation ceremony of cricketers at the much heralded Sir Frank Worrell Cricket Academy at Couva. “Based on our players performance on the regional scene I must say there is a lack of consistency and truly we have not delivered what is expected of us. While we must be elated over the physical infrastructure and the facilities for coaching and training we have put in place, we need to be realistic and recognise that the journey now starts,” said Lequay. “Until we can claim dominance on the regional scene and enjoy the satisfaction of making a substantial contribution to the resurgence of West Indies cricket, we must admit that we have not delivered what is expected of us,” he said.

Director of the Academy, former Test wicketkeeper Deryck Murray was in attendance and said there must be a change in the philosophy of cricket to allow development to flourish. Murray was directly involved with the coaching and planning of the programme for the 15 players who attended the academy since last year. The players graduating were Imran Jan, Asif Jan, Gregory Mahabir, Gibran Mohammed, Zaheer Ali, Rodney Sooklal, Theodore Modeste, Navin Chan, Dwayne Bravo, Ravi Rampaul, Kenton Thompson, Amit Jaggernauth, Denzil James, Samuel Badree and Sherwin Ganga. Wicketkeeper Navin Chan was voted the in-ductee who best symbolises the character and significance of the one-year training programme. He received a trophy from Maxim Marquez representing the Trinidad and Tobago Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors. The first year’s expense for running the academy was met by PowerGen whose CEO Garth Chatoor called on the youngsters to work hard and break into the top bracket of West Indies cricket.