LOCAL CRICKET ROUND-UP
December 16th 2008

National player Kevon Cooper gave the selectors something to think about, as he lashed an unbeaten 98 to take his team the Rayad Emrit’s XI to a six-wicket victory over Samuel Badree’s XI on the fourth and final day of the national trials at the National Cricket Centre in Couva.

Starting play yesterday, on 106 for two and chasing 198 runs for victory, the Emrit XI closed out victory at 204 for four. Overnight batsmen Cooper and Imran Khan pushed to score nicely along to 140 before Khan fell for a well played 46.

Cooper continued to play well and found the batting very easy. He finished just two short of a well deserved century but coach Kelvin Williams was still very impressed with his play.

“Cooper showed a lot of maturity in his innings and it is nice to see the young players playing with that level of understanding of a situation.” Williams said his team is coming along nicely and he is happy with what he has seen thus far.

“The batters seem to be coming in their own and their form is really good at present. With one trial match to go before the team is selected, I think we will be where we want to be at that point.

“I am especially pleased with the performance off the fast bowlers as they really showed a lot of character on a pitch that was not helpful to them.” The final trial match gets going on Thursday.

SCORES:

BADREE’S XI 238 all out ( Mario Belcon 68, Justin Guillen 58, Atiba Alert 27, Lendl Simmons 26, Amit Jaggernauth 16 not out, Sunil Narine 21.1-4-55-10) & 222 all out (Justin Guillen 53, Samuel Badree 45, Mario Belcon 28, Navin Stewart 24,Sanjiv Gooljar 3/14, Shannon Gabrelle 3/72 ) v Emrit’s XI 263 all out (Daren Ganga 91, Rayad Emrit 67, Sunil Narine 39 not out, Samuel Badree 4/48, Atiba Alert 2/20) and 198/2 (Kevon Cooper 98 not out, Imran Khan 46, Jason Mohammed 36). Emrit’s XI won by 6 wkts.

All rounder Yannick Carriah continued his impressive form in the regional under-17 cricket championships with a fine all round display that took T&T to their third consecutive victory of the series against Guyana at Felicity yesterday.

Carriah topscored with 26 as T&T batting first struggled to 136 all out in 49.1 overs. He received support from Rixon Maniram 19 but the others struggled on a slow pitch. Guyanese off-spinner Jomal LaFleur was particularly difficult to get away and finished with three for 21. Also among the wickets were Amir Khan two for 30 and Andre Stoll two for 39.

Carriah then turned on the heat with his bowling to grab three wickets for 18 runs, as Guyana was restricted to 119 for nine off their 50 overs - losing the match by 17 runs. Herell Green scored 30 and Jamally Odle got 22 for the visitors. Lending good support to Carriah was T&T skipper Yanick Ottley who took two wickets for 20 runs.

The win for T&T was their third of the tournament and the remain the only unbeaten team in the series.Hosts T&T crushed the lowly-rated Windward Islands by 115 runs in the opening round and followed up with a resounding eight wicket win against Jamaica in Round Two on Friday.

Previously unbeaten Barbados when into their game against Jamaica, at the Queen’s Park Oval as favourites but lost a close encounter by three wickets. Batting first, Barbados scored 116 all out in 44.4 overs. Jason Holder got 38 and the impressive Kraig Brathwaite scored 22. Coi Thompson was the pick of the Jamaican bowlers with four for 20 and Donovan Nelson took three for 28.

Jamaican then got to victory in the final over off their innings, reaching 117 for seven off 49.5 overs. Hanchard Hamilton was the best batsman on show and got an unbeaten 38 that took them home. Man of the match Nelson returned to score 23 to ensure to victory.

Windward Islands secured their first points of the regional under-17 limited overs championships, when they defeated the Leeward Islands by six wickets at at Gilbert Park in California.

The Leewards won the toss and decided to take first strike at the central venue. They found the going tough and struggled to 129 all out in 42.3 overs. Leading the way were Adelvin Phillip with 37 and Nino Henry 24. Kavin Hodge was the pick off the Windwards bowlers with three for 16, while Rodney Lawrence took three for 19 and Kyle Dean three for 30. The Windwards in reply raced to their winning target off just 25.4 overs for the loss of four wickets. They reached 134 for four with man of the match Rudolph Paul hitting an unbeaten 50 and Hodge getting 20. Kevin Osbourne took three wickets for 36 runs for the Leewards.

SCORES:

At Felicity: T&T 136 all out ( 49.1 overs)(Yannick Carriah 26, Rixon Maniram 19, Jomal LaFleur three for 21, Amir Khan two for 30, Andre Stoll two for 39) v Guyana 119/9 ( 50 overs)(Herell Green 30, Jamally Odle 22, Yannick Carriah 3/18, Yanick Ottley 2/20). T&T won by 17 runs. At the Oval: Barbados 116 all out (44.4 overs)(Jason Holder 38, Kraig Brathwaite 22, Coi Thompson four for 20, Donovan Nelson three for 28) v Jamaica 117/7 (49.5 overs)(Hanchard Hamilton 38 not out, Donovan Nelson 23). Jamaica won by three wickets.

At Gilbert Park: Leewards 129 all out (42.3overs)(Adelvin Phillip 37, Nino Henry 24, Kavin Hodge 3/16, Rodney Lawrence 3/19, Kyle Dean 3/30) v Windwards 134/4 (25.4overs)(Rudolph Paul 50 not out, Kavin Hodge 20, Kevin Osbourne 3/36) Windwards won by 4 wkts.

Persaud raps former cricket exec

Forbes Persaud, chief executive officer of Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board, (T&TCB) came out with his guns blazing over statements made by Baldath Mahabir, a former executive member of the T&TCB, in a report carried recently on CMC and another newspaper.

According to the CMC report, Mahabir criticised Persaud for what he termed “inflammatory remarks” made by the CEO about the West Indies Board, concerning its development programmes.

Mahabir said the CEO’s criticisms of people on other boards showed that there was also no thought process before speaking, and that he must be careful.

In an article in another newspaper on October 20, fingers were pointed at Deryck Murray and Persaud, a former school teacher and secondary schools cricket organiser.

Mahabir said one of the first acts of the new administration was to close down the Cricket Academy. Thus, there was no new intake of young cricketers for five years, from 2003 to 2007.

Speaking to G-Sport, Persaud said he wondered if Mahabir was sending a message to himself when he talked about “no thought process before speaking.

“How can Mahabir claim that one of the first acts of the new administration was to close down the academy, and as a result there was no intake of cricketers for five years from September, 2003, to 2007?

“Yes; he is correct that there was no intake over these years. But how could Deryck Murray’s administration be responsible for the intake of players in September, 2003, September, 2004, and September, 2005, when it was his (Mahabir’s) administration under Alloy Lequay, who held office during this time.

“Let me remind the gentleman that Murray and his administration were elected to office in November, 2005. Could he explain to the nation how this closure of the academy in 2003 by Murray and his administration was possible?”

Persaud claimed that at no time did he criticise the West Indies Board or any one from any other territorial boards regarding their development programmes.

Instead, he was calling, just like people such as WICB’s CEO Dr Donald Peters and Dr Ian McDonald, a member of the PJ Patterson Committee, among others, to take example and follow the model of the T&TCB in the interest of regional cricket.

“Dr McDonald, after his visit to T&T, recommended in his report to the PJ Patterson Committee that he was very happy with what is happening in T&T, especially at the primary and secondary schools level, and therefore he is recommending that other territories use the T&TCB as a model as far as youth development programmes are concerned.

During his address at the closing ceremony for our high-performance centres, Dr Peters said other cricket organisations in the region should emulate the programme of activities that T&T was pursuing.

Also, he admired T&T's approach to the development of the game, and in discussions with Sir Allen Stanford it was felt that T&T had a comprehensive plan to ensure cohesiveness in preparing teams. Persaud explained.

“How can calling on other territorial boards to follow what we in T&T are doing, as far as development of the game is concerned, be ‘dangerous and inflammatory’?

“Could Mahabir please explain?” Persaud asked.

The vibrant and industrious CEO reminded that while the mission statement of the board clearly stated that the aim of the T&TCB was to become the No 1 territory in the region, his administration was placing very heavy emphasis on the final product, that is, West Indies cricket, and that they would do everything possible to assist the WICB and other territories to achieve this goal.

Persaud pointed out that the regional Under 17 tournament taking place in this country, an initiative of the T&TCB and which was also sponsored by the local organisation, was testimony to its commitment to regional cricket development.

Teams taking part in the series are T&T, Jamaica, Barbados, Guyana, Leeward Islands and Windward Islands.

With respect to statements alluded to his good self, re-inclusion of more T&T players on the West Indies team, Persaud said that he was simply asking why was it that players such as Ravi Rampaul, Lendl Simmons, Kieron Pollard, Rayad Emrit, and Amit Jaggernauth continued to be overlooked after extremely short stints on the WI team.

It must be noted that since Persaud’s statement, Pollard has been included in the West Indies team.

The CEO also cleared the air on Daren Ganga for captain of the regional team.

“What I said was: ‘Daren Ganga is definitely the best leader in regional cricket; the regional selectors should rethink their position, and that consideration should be given to him if the opportunity arises, and I maintain this.”