T&TCB Regional U-17 Series Launch
December 9th 2008

Persaud: Regional U-17 series must be part of WICB calender
……… T&TCB pumps $500,000 for youth series

NAZ YACOOB

Forbes Persaud, CEO and General Secretary of the T&T Cricket Board has issued a call to the West Indies Cricket Board to have the T&TCB Regional U-17 Series as part of its up-coming cricketing calendar.

The call was made at the official launch of the T&TCB Under-17 tournament yesterday at the Sir Frank Worrell Cricket Development Centre at Balmain in Couva.

An initiative of the T&TCB, teams from the traditional six territorial boards will be taking part in the week-long 50-over-per-side tournament, including host country T&T, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Leeward Islands and Windward Islands.

The T&TCB has ploughed close to $500,000 to stage this series. The tournament will bowl off tomorrow with matches in North and Central Trinidad.

Persaud said that this tournament has fulfilled all the requirements of a regional series and it needs to be sanctioned and officially endorsed by the West Indies Cricket Board. “Although they (WICB) has given its blessings we need this tournament to be a part of its official calendar, so players participating will have their statistics officially documented,” Persaud said.

He said there is an urgent need to bridge the gap between the Under-15 and Under-17 levels, before talented players are lost or gone on the wayside.

“Last year the T&TCB staged a triangular tournament with teams from T&T, Guyana and the Windward Islands taking part. And following the success of that series, we saw the need for an overall regional tournament with teams, from the six territorial boards taking part, hence the reason for staging this series,” Persaud further stated.

Also speaking at the launch was former Test cricketer and President of the T&TCB, Deryck Murray.

He said that the T&TCB recognizes that the development of young players is critical to the long-term failure of the game.

Murray said the ‘development’ is not just about coaching and academic learning, and it is important that there must be a balance with the playing of competitive games.

“Recognising that there are gaps in the cricket calendar, the T&T CB is arranging this series to provide an opportunity for many of these youngsters to gauge their progress since they competed at the U-15 and before they enter into the U-19 arena,” Murray said.

He added that winning at any sport is important, but the real purpose of this series is for the players to learn, experiment, to test new skills and to measure their progress against their peers in other territories.

“It is also a valuable opportunity to renew old acquaintances and rivalries and, above all, to develop and maintain friendship and camaraderie. In time these players will form the nucleus of the West Indies team and it is important that they begin to forge the bonds of mutual respect and sportsmanship that will serve them well in the future,” Murray remarked.

T&T Cricket Board Regional U-17 Tournament Fixtures 2008

Dec 11

• Jamaica v Leeward Islands at Inshan Ali Park (Basheer Ali & Peter Nero).
• Windward Islands v T&T at Queen’s Park Oval (Joel Wilson & Rawle Richards)
• Guyana v Barbados at Gilbert Park (Khemraj Barrasingha & Hayden Bruce).

Dec 12

• T&T v Jamaica at Syne Village (Peter Nero & Robert Neptune).
• Barbados v Leeward Islands at Honeymoon Park (Joel Wilson and Garfield Hodge).
• Windward Islands v Guyana at Wilson Road (Basheer Ali & Jeewanlal Sookoo).

Dec 14

• Barbados v Jamaica at Queen’s Park Oval (Rawle Richards & Perry Galindo).
• Leeward Islands v Windward Islands at Gilbert Park (Khemraj Barrasingha & Shaheed Allaham).
• Guyana v T&T at Inshan Ali Park (Basheer Ali & Danish Ramdhanie).

Dec 15

• Jamaica v Guyana at Honeymoon (Joel Wilson & Garfield Hodge).
• Windward Islands v Barbados at Syne Village (Peter Nero & Mark Santana).
• T&T v Leeward Islands at Wilson Road (Khemraj Barrasingha & Shaheed Allaham).

Dec 17

• Windward Islands v Jamaica at Inshan Ali Park (Basheer Ali & Khemraj Barrasingha).
• Leeward Islands v Guyana at Queen’s Park Oval (Joel Wilson & Rawle Richards).
• Barbados v T&T at Gilbert Park (Peter Nero & Hayden Bruce).