TTCB – News

T&TCB launch plans for cricket supremacy
November 1, 2011

THE TRINIDAD and Tobago Cricket Board (T&TCB) has approached the Ministry of Sports for funding to facilitate the preparation of the T&T national senior men’s cricketers for the 2012 regional season which gets underway in early January.

The newly re-elected national executive of the T&TCB has placed high on their agenda the reclaiming of the West Indies Four-Day title and in pursuit of this objective, a comprehensive training and competition scheduled has been drawn up to ensure success.

The cost of the proposal has been placed at $700,755 and covers all aspects of the team’s preparation including the quadrangular T20 festival after Christmas holidays involving guest team Guyana, T&T senior men’s team, T&T “A” team  and the T&T Under-23 Cricket Academy.

T&T are the defending Caribbean T20 champions who will be hosting the preliminary rounds of the Caribbean T20 tournament which will be staged at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain before the last four teams move on to Barbados for the semi-finals and final.

The Caribbean T20 will be staged from January 9 to 22  while the Four-Day Championship, which has eluded the T&T cricketers for many years is scheduled for February 3 to April 10.

In the proposal for funding for the national team, the T&TCB thanked the Minister of Sport Anil Roberts for his positive input in the team’s preparation for the recent 2011 Nokia Champions League T20 in India and the regional Super50 limited overs tournament in Guyana which followed.

Led by skipper Daren Ganga, Trinidad and Tobago were defeated by Jamaica in the final of the Super50 last Saturday in Guyana and are keen to establish their credentials as T20 champions especially playing at home.

Regional winners of the Caribbean T20 qualify for the Champions League T20 which next year is likely to be staged in South Africa.

The T&TCB, in the lead-up to the Caribbean T20 have planned a series of trial matches at home  between November 12 and December 19 and will be engaged in the quadrangular tournament after Christmas on December 28,29 and 30.

Like last year the T20 Festival will more than likely be staged under lights at Guaracara Park in Pointe-a-Pierre and this has become a much anticipated last opportunity  for players bidding to address the national selectors for selection on the T&T team.

Final team preparation for the Caribbean T20 is scheduled to take place between January 2  to 6 after which the team will go straight into the Caribbean T20 three days later.

On Tuesday, T&TCB president  Bassarath said that he is optimistic that the national cricketers will get the support of the Ministry of Sport as they press forward to give the Red Force the best opportunity to retain their Caribbean T20 crown.

Bassarath who  was re-elected unopposed along with the Movement for Change slate in the national executive elections on October 29 thinks that 2012 will be the year when T&T can finally capture the regional Four-Day championship.

He said that it is important for the team to get the financial backing that it needs as the T&TCB intends to work closely with the Ministry of Sports in providing the best platform to launch the 2012 campaign for regional cricket supremacy in all forms of the game.