PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC-Trinidad and Tobago captain Denesh Ramdin is planning to use the regional cricket season to press his claim for a recall to the West Indies side after he was overlooked for the current tour of Australia.
Ramdin leads his charges against Windward Islands in their opening four day and super 50 matches on the 15th and 21st of February respectively at the Arnos vale playing field.
“In front of me is the regional first class season, as well as the 50-overs championships,” Ramdin said in an interview with the Guardian.
“I will be leading my country in this series and I am really looking forward to getting out there and putting in some good work behind the stumps and also be among the runs”.
A WICB official has been quoted in the Trinidad media as saying Ramdin’s exclusion from the touring squad is linked to a policy of rotating wicketkeepers.
Ramdin was a member of the West Indies team which won the International Cricket Council (ICC) T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka.
However he was replaced by leeward Island player Devon Thomas for the Australian tour of five ODIs and a Twenty/20 match.
“It is all that I can do now, just continue to address the selectors and continue to keep my name in the mix,” said Ramdin.
“The Champions Trophy 50-overs tournament will be coming up and I am looking to be on that squad for that tournament in England.”
Trinidad and Tobago will be without the services of a number of key players for the regional season as a result of the tour of Australia and the Bangladesh Premier League.
Ramdin, who led his country to an unprecedented hat-trick of regional T20 titles, says he is confident other players will step up to the task.
“We are going to give it our best shot at winning the first class and 50-overs titles. It is difficult when you lose players to the West Indies team during the series and this has hampered us badly in the past,” he said.
“However, looking at our bench strength, I am happy with what we have and I am confident that a number of them can make the step up and perform well in the regional series when required”.