Inclement weather over the past weekend has dealt a blow to the plans of Trinidad and Tobago senior cricketers and their preparation to retain the Nagico Super50 regional tournament which gets underway on January 7 here at home.
The first of two practice matches involving the squad and leading local cricketers scheduled for yesterday was postponed because of the soggy outfield at the National Cricket Centre at Balmain in Couva.
However, Dudnath Ramkessoon, Cricket Operations Officer of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board said he is hoping for better weather conditions in the next few days so that the second practice match tomorrow can take place.
The North versus South clash is slated to get underway at 1.30 pm on the refurbished National Cricket Centre ground. The North side will be captained by Queen’s Park Cricket Club opening batsman Justin Guillen while South will have at its helm, recently appointed national captain Jason Mohammed.
Ramkessoon said the matches have been planned to give the squad selected for the Nagico Super50 an excellent opportunity to fine-tune their preparation and the rain has deprived the cricketers from getting some competitive on-field action on Monday.
He said national coach Gus Logie, who will take charge of the South team, and Kelvin Williams at the lead of the North selection, have been robbed of the opportunity to gauge the readiness of their charges.
He is however optimistic that the weather conditions will improve to allow the second match on Wednesday to progress, just over a week away from the early rounds of the Nagico Super50 limited overs competition.
Trinidad and Tobago, and St Kitts/Nevis, will co-host the tournament with the semi-finals and final slated for the Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain. In last year’s final, hosts Trinidad and Tobago Red Force trounced the Guyana Jaguars by 135 runs in a one-sided affair.
Nagico Super50 Groups
Group “A”: TT Red Force, Jamaica Scorpions, Barbados Pride, ICC Americas
Group “B”: Guyana Jaguars, CCC Marooners, Windward Islands Volcanoes, Leeward Islands Hurricanes
SOUTH SQUAD
Kjorn Ottley
Adrian Ali
Nicholas Pooran
Jason Mohammed (Captain)
Yannick Ottley
Steven Katwaroo
Imran Khan
Jyd Goolie
Jon-Russ Jagessar
Daniel St. Clair
Strassack Sankar
Ricky Jaipaul
Kavesh Kantasingh
Bryan Charles
Augustine Logie (Coach)
NORTH SQUAD
Jeremy Solozano
Justin Guillen (Captain)
Narsingh Deonarine
Yannic Cariah
Kirstan Kallicharan
Kevon Cooper
Akeal Hosein
Rayad Emrit
Marlon Richards
Philton Williams
Uthman Mohammed
Amir Jangoo
Ewart Nicholson
Akeel Seetal
Kelvin Williams
(Coach)