PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Trinidad & Tobago manager Colin Borde has blamed his side’s poor performance in the just concluded WICB first class tournament on the absence of key players.
T&T, the reigning regional one-day champions, finished fourth in the championship after managing just two wins in their six matches. “The loss of seven key players to any team is devastating at best. This presented an opportunity for the younger players to gain valuable experience,” Borde pointed out.
“Some players have learnt quicker than others and we have seen good performances from Imran Khan and Justin Guillen. Most importantly, the players need to understand the longer version of the game, which requires patience and thought.”
T&T were robbed of several players for most of the campaign with Denesh Ramdin, Kieron Pollard, Lendl Simmons and Ravi Rampaul all missing because of West Indies duty Down Under.
All-rounder Dwayne Bravo did not play a single match because of injury while the talented batting duo of Adrian Barath and Darren Bravo were reduced to a single game also because of injury and then West Indies duty.
Borde said he believed, however, that the inexperienced players needed to step up especially when the seasoned campaigners were unavailable.
“How quickly they learn will depend on how much they want success and we are here to facilitate such a process,” Borde stated.
Joey Carew, a former chairman of West Indies selectors, said he believed T&T’s poor start to the season when they lost to Combined Campuses and Colleges in the opening match, set the precedent for their campaign.
“But in saying so, having lost the first game against Combined Campuses and Colleges, I am off the view the T&T team was totally demoralized,” said the former West Indies batsman.
“It was therefore a difficult task for them to recover and secure a prominent position in the seven-team-standings.”
