TTCB – News

TT cricketers practise with pink ball
January 14, 2010

THE Trinidad and Tobago cricket team successfully completed their first training session yesterday at the practice facility outside the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua.

More emphasis was put on the batting by coach Kelvin Williams after TT were dismissed for 107 and 124 against Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) in a humiliating defeat by 151 runs in three days in the opening match of the tournament at Jarrett Park in Jamaica.

Inflicting mayhem on the TT team in Jamaica was their compatriot Kavesh Kantasingh who had match figures of 12 for 84 for the CCC.

“The wicket was not an ideal practice wicket because there was a great deal of moisture and the ball was not coming onto the bat. But this was a good thing because the batsmen had to be patient and spend time at the wicket and adapt before they could play any shots,” said Williams in a telephone interview from Antigua yesterday.

The national team will play Guyana in the first day/night match of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Four-Day tournament which bowls off tomorrow at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium from 1 pm.

Yesterday the national team was given pink balls to practise and Williams believes that the pacers will have an impact with the ball.

“The balls seem to be good quality and the players are pleased with them. The ball is a Duke Ball and they normally swing quite a bit so we can expect something from the pacers early on,” said Williams.

He explained that it was very important for the players to utilise the two practice sessions ahead of the match to adapt to the pink ball so there is an easy transition into match conditions.

“The national team will train today at 4pm to ensure that the players adjust to sighting the ball under artificial lights while the batsmen and bowlers try to understand and learn about the response of the pink ball.

“Under lights we will get to see what the ball does in the night. This is very important for the batting and bowling department to see the reaction of the ball. We also need to see how the pink ball comes off from the sky under artificial lights. The players were able to see the ball coming off the sky during the day and it is quite exciting preparing for such an historic match,” said Williams.

The TT coach revealed that he was able to take a look at the wicket Sir Vivian Richards Stadium and is expecting similar conditions to that in the opening match in Jarrett Park.

“When we were training today the wicket was covered for most of the session. However, I was able to go across when they took off the covers and inspect the wicket. The wicket looks similar to those you find in Guyana and it looks to be on the slow side with low bounce,” said Williams.

The former national player described the training session yesterday as “fruitful” and noted that the team morale has been good despite losing the opening match to CCC.

“All the players are feeling quite good with the team being upbeat. The guys know they need to do something different Friday to regain the confident and support of the public.

“There was nothing to talk about in the first match, the guys looked fresh and the camaraderie is still there. We played some football on the outfield at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium and the facility looks in good shape,” said Williams.