PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC-Trinidad and Tobago’s manager Omar Khan says his players’ performance against Canada in the three-day practice match this week indicates their readiness to compete in the regional four-day tournament.
Two batsmen, Jason Mohammed and Yannic Cariah, scored centuries as the Trinidadians romped to a comprehensive innings and 130-run victory over Canada on the third day Tuesday.
“It indicated that they are adjusting from the 20-20 format to the longer version of the game”said Khan.
The country’s most successful team manager says the leadership qualities of captain Denesh Ramdin is critical towards securing title honours in the four-day tournament following their regional T20 success.
“The leadership of Ramdin has made a difference in him impressing upon the players that our T20 dominance is just one aspect of it,” said Khan.
“… but if you want to move on as a true professional cricketer the ultimate aim is to play Test cricket and in order to do that you have to play the four-day game well”.
In an effort to help the players make the transition from T20 success to a similar achievement in the longer first class format, team administration has set new objectives.
These include flexibility, proper shot selection, patience when batting and bowlers’ adherence to line and length.
“The cricketers have bought into that,” said Khan. “We see it as one of the major factors in terms of us trying to win the four-day tournament”.
Trinidad and Tobago play Windward Islands in their first four-day match from February 15th at the Arnos Vale Cricket Ground in St.Vincent and the Grenadines.