(Trinidad Guardian) Minister of Sport Anil Roberts said yesterday he has begun the process of negotiating with top local cricketers Keiron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo and Sunil Narine, in an effort to get them to play for T&T at the upcoming Champions league in South Africa. With T&T due to participate in the qualifying stages of the Champions league tournament, the local cricket boss is hoping that the trio would be available for this country, instead of their Indian Premier League clubs who have qualified for the main draw. Roberts said yesterday : “I have already met with the representatives for Keiron Pollard and Sunil Narine. The representatives for Pollard are representing Dwayne Bravo as well, so effectively I have met with representatives off all the players. “I have already told them and the T&T Cricket Board (TTCB) that they must inform the players’ franchise clubs that their country is desirous of them representing it at the Champions league, so it will not come as a shock to them.
“We have done this because we don’t want to jeopardize the players chances of representing their clubs in the future. Any player who is being paid to play for his club and does not want to play for his country cannot be considered unpatriotic. As a matter of fact any citizen that has to put his or her living in jeopardy to represent the country for nothing, cannot be expected to throw away their financial well being. “However, having said that we want our players to represent us and hence we will go further than having to buy out 20 percent of their contract. We are looking at putting incentives in place for them, to make them comfortable. The guys have expressed an interest in representing T&T and we are going to leave no stone un-turned in trying to get them to play for the red, white and black.
“Right now I need for the players’ representatives to come back to me with the nitty gritty of the contracts and I will take it to cabinet to see how best we can make it happen.” Meanwhile, president of the T&T Cricket Board (TTCB), Azim Bassarath says that he is confident Roberts will be able to get the players on board for the Champions League.
According to Bassarath: “The minister said last time around that he will be coming on board to ensure that we have the strongest possible team and I am confident he will do his best to acquire the services of the three players. “The minister is a man of his word and he has already indicated to us that he wants to begin negotiations. We have already contacted the players and they have been in touch with him and negotiations are on the way. At this point in time I am confident that the players would come our way.” Bassarath said the Champions league is very important to T&T’s cricket because it creates that awareness among the youngsters and he joins with Roberts in believing that winning the tournament will be a huge fillip for the game here. “We need to do well in these big tournaments because when we do the game becomes attractive to the young ones. The minister has seen the need for us to have the best team, in order to have the best chance and we at the cricket board is of the same view.”
