LOCAL CRICKET ROUND-UP
April 23rd 2009

Action resumes in Premier Division

After an absence of about two weeks, action in the Eastern Credit Union Premier Division will resume on Saturday, with a series of matches in Round Five throughout the country.

Last weekend’s fourth round matches were postponed to a date to be fixed because of the Fifth Summit of the Americas, which took place in the City of Port-of-Spain.

Leaders PowerGen Sports will make the long trek from Syne Village in Penal, to take on Ceramic Merry Boys Sports in the feature attraction of the round, at the St Mary’s College grounds in Port-of-Spain.

The ‘Electricity Boys’ lead the standings with 51 points, 13 more that the Patna Village-based Merry Boys.

A win for either team will see them gaining the ascendency as the tournament goes along.

In another key encounter, Tile Depot Central Sports second in the 10-team-standings on 49 points, will have a tough task when they come up against Queen’s Park at the Oval.

In the ‘Central Derby’, W Connection Wanderers will host arch-rivals Clico Preysal Sports at Gilbert Park in California. Points are crucial for these two teams if they are to figure prominently in the latter stages of the series and another thriller is expected.

Cellar-placed Alescon Comets will have to lift their game by leaps and bounds if they are to conquer neighbours — Munroe Road Sports at the Pierre Road Recreation Ground in Charlieville. Comets will benefit tremendously by the return of their inspirational captain Imran Khan and maximum points could be in the making for them.

POINTS STANDINGS AFTER THREE ROUNDS OF MATCHES IN PREMIERSHIP AND CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISIONS

Premier - PowerGen Sports 51 pts, Central Sports 49, Wanderers 45, Clarke Road 41, Merry Boys 38, Preysal 38, Munroe Road 34, Queen’s Park 23, Moosai’s 15, Comets 11.

North Championship - Queen’s Park 56 pts, Barataria 48, Spoilers 41, Aranguez 34, Defence Force 34, UTT 33, Police 32, Sweet Revenge 31, Bamboo Sports 31, Curepe 22, Invaders 20.

South Championship - Evergreen 44 pts, Endeavour 36, Woodland 36, Calcutta 34, Caldrac 34, Diamond 33, Valiants 30, Milton 29, Caroni Savannah 23, Victoria 15, Couva 13.

Premier Division - Round Five Fixtures - Saturday & Sunday

Ceramic Merry Boys v PowerGen Sports at CIC; W Connection Wanderers v Clico Preysal Sports at Gilbert Park; Alescon Comets v Munroe Road at Pierre Road; FC Clarke Road Utd v Moosai’s Sports at Wilson Road; Queen’s Park v Tile Depot Central Sports at QP Oval.

North Championship - Round Five Fixtures - Saturday & Sunday

Defence Force v Police at Chaguaramas; Bamboo Sports v Spoilers at Bamboo; Invaders v Curepe Sports at Felicity; UTT v Sweet Revenge at O’Meara; QPCC v Bye; Barataria Ball Players v B/American Aranguez Sports at Barataria.

South Championship - Round Five Fixtures - Saturday & Sunday

Woodland v Caroni Sav. Rd at Woodland; Calcutta Sports v F&E Diamond at Calcutta; Endeavour v Evergreen at Endeavour; Couva Sports v Caldrac Sports at Couva; Victoria v Milton at Barrackpore; Valiants v Bye.

Central Zone U-13 screening on today

All players interested in representing Central Zone in the upcoming BGT&T Under-13 Inter-Zone tournament, are requested to attend briefing and net sessions at the National Cricket Centre in Balman, Couva today from 3.30 pm.

Players are kindly asked to contact coordinators — Rambhai Patel, Boya Sahadeo and Pradeep Vishnu at 636/4745 for further information.

South Zone ready for Under-13

In preparation for the T&T Cricket Board's BGTT sponsored Inter Zone Under 13 competitions, the South Zone, after screening close to one hundred players over the last one month, has now short listed sixteen players for possible final selection. Coaching sessions with these players take place on Saturday mornings at Guaracara Park, Petrotrin, Point a Pierre, and will continue until the start of the competitions, which is scheduled to bowl off on May 5, with South Zone coming up against the South West Zone in their first round encounter.

Manager of the South Zone team is Sheldon Sooknanan, while the coach is Shaffeck Mohammed, who recently completed the Level 2 WICB Coaching Course, which was conducted by the T&TCB.

Chairman of the T&TCB's Inter Zone Competitions Committee, Leo Doodnath, who is also chairman of the South Zone, when contacted by the Guardian, stated that all systems are in place for the commencement of the competitions and foresees the usual successful completion of the tournaments. He reminded that the competitions will showcase the skills and talents of about one hundred and twenty of the best Under 13 players in the country. He was also high in praise of the sponsors BGTT, who he said has been parterning with the board in its youth development programmes for over twelve years now.

South U-13 squad - Kershawn Lewis, Jyd Goolie, Arvin Bhim, Kern Kanhai, Justin Samkaran, Jordan Samkaran, Jamieson Pitie, John Michael Chadee, David Ali, Decklam Ifill, Dhanraj Jugmohan, Amir Khan, Dillon Omar, Dillon Sahai, Shane Ramjattansingh and David Dookie.