T&T board to assess disappointing first-class performance

The Trinidad & Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) will be holding discussions with the team management on the disappointing fourth-place finish in the recently concluded Regional Four-Day Competition. The T&T side managed just two wins during the campaign, drawing eight matches and losing two.

"We pretty much know where we went wrong and why we did not win the title but all this will be discussed in one week's time with officials of the T&T board," team manager Colin Borde told CMC. "As is usual at the end of every series, we meet with the board to discuss what transpired and to work on a way forward.

"We had a pretty good season winning the Stanford 20/20 Championship and the regional limited-overs tournament (the WICB Cup) but we did not do as we would have liked in the first-class series."

T&T started the final round of matches last weekend in third position in the standings but an outright loss to Combined Campuses and Colleges at the Three Ws Oval resulted in a slip by one spot. Their only two wins came against the Windward Islands in the third round and the Leewards Islands, two months later, in the penultimate round.

"The on-tour management of the team has already assessed where we went wrong and in what areas we need to improve and now it is about meeting with the TTCB and showing them our plan of action," Borde explained.

"We have mapped out a plan for the next six months for this team and the TTCB would have to let us know if they have the resources for the planned programme."

Borde also blamed the weather for playing a key role in T&T's campaign - affecting a number of their matches and making it difficult to achieve outright results. "No one lost fewer games than us in the tournament," he said. "The champions Jamaica lost twice and we lost twice. Five of our games were affected by the bad weather and this proved costly to us. We thought that we did not get enough playing time out there to really have a chance of winning the tournament.

"And when we did get an opportunity to play, we had to contend with a number of injuries. We actually blooded eight players in this series and this comes like playing a second XI.

"Under these circumstances we found it very difficult to win this championship. What we are happy about through is the fact that we were able to expose these young players and they were able to get a taste of what regional cricket is like."