TTCB – News

Coach says bowlers will win title for TT
January 7, 2010

By ZAID MOHAMMED

COACH of the Trinidad and Tobago cricket team Kelvin Williams has expressed confidence in the ability of the batsmen but believes that the bowlers hold the key to success in the West Indies Cricket Board’s Four-Day regional tournament.

The tournament bowls off on Friday with Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean 50-overs champions facing the developmental side, Combined Colleges and Campuses (CCC) at Jarrett Park in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Led by inspirational captain Daren Ganga, the TT team arrived in Jamaica on Tuesday without key players Dwayne Bravo, his younger brother Darren, Kieron Pollard and opening batsman Adrian Barath.

Mercurial allrounders Bravo and Pollard are currently playing in the Australian Big Bash Twenty20 tournament; while stylish left-handed batsman Bravo and opener Barath are recovering from injuries.

However Williams said in a telephone interview from Jamaica that he has been encouraged by the form shown by the top-order batsmen in the Digicel Gerry Gomez North-South Classic.

Skipper Ganga had two big scores of 91 and 105 not out to emerge “Man of the Match” while his brother Sherwin also reached triple figures. Opening batsman Justin Guillen also showed good form while allrounders Rayad Emrit and Richard Kelly were impressive with both bat and ball.

But Williams warned that the bowlers will have to be at the top of their game if Trinidad and Tobago are to reverse their trend of falling short of claiming the top prize in the four-day tournament.

“Ïf you look at our performances last year, you would see that we struggled to dismiss teams in the tournament. The bowling needs to be a strong point in the team and the bowlers have an important part to play this season,” said Williams from the team hotel.

He said the batting has come of age with players going on to make big scores in trials while the fielding has been excellent which has allowed the technical staff to concentrate more on preparing the bowlers for what is expected to be an intensive season caused by the shortening of the regional tournament by half due to financial constraints.

He described the playing conditions in Jamaica as visibly different than Trinidad and Tobago and hopes that his players adapt quickly to get a positive result in their opening match.

“The wickets here have much more bounce and this will favour our batsmen because once they spend some time at the crease the runs will come.

“Also the spinners will be able to benefit from the bounce in the wickets and this is where we can gain an advantage,” said Williams.

The former national fast bowlers said the TT cricketers will pay a visit to the match venue at Jarrett Park, Montego Bay on Thursday on the eve of the match against the CCC so they can get a look at the ground.

Wlliams said it is important that TT win their opening encounter as it will set the tone for the rest of the campaign whose schedule allows the competing teams just one match at home.

“Ït is important to win the opening match. The opposition (CCC) beat us in the final match of the tournament last year and it is important to make sure there is not a repeat of this.

“We have a lot of guys who played in that match and we will be looking to improve on this,” said Williams.

On Wednesday the Trinidad and Tobago cricketers had their first training session with the batsmen and bowlers going through their routines.

Last season Trinidad and Tobago gained the world’s attention by reaching the final of the Airtel Champions League Twenty 20 tournament in India.

They participated in the tournament which attracted the world best Twenty20 clubs--- champions in their respective countries--- by virtue of winning the Stanford 20/20 in Antigua in 2008.

Shortly after arriving back in Trinidad from the subcontinent, TT regained the regional 50-overs competition, playing unbeaten and defeating home team Guyana in the final.