Reserves day in Carib League (13 March 1999)

13 March 1999

Reserves day in Carib League

Garth Wattley

With some 15 players on national team duty preparing for the Busta Cup grand finale against Barbados next weekend, many Carib National League Division One teams will be counting on the strength of their reserves this weekend when round two action gets under way.

Fifteen players under captain Ian Bishop will begin training for the all-important regional final this morning at the Queen's Park Oval from 9 a.m.

Training will continue on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at the Oval from 2 p.m. And included in that group that has taken T&T to their second first-class final in as many attempts is leg-spinner Dinanath Ramnarine.

Ramnarine, who has been out of the game since November when he had surgery on his injured right shoulder, is aiming for a recall for the final. But he will have to convince the selectors that both his form and fitness have returned.

Ramnarine's club, high-flying Alescon Comet, may not mind if he does try out the shoulder this weekend when they visit Clico Preysal.

Comet enjoyed one of their best starts in many a year when they beat 1997 champions Sims Central Sports by 9 wickets.

But the Comet boys, currently second in the standings (24 points), may find their Preysal opponents a tougher nut to crack.

Preysal, facing a daunting Queen's Park total of 350 for 5 a month ago in round one, fought gamely to stave off a first innings defeat an end their adjusted two-day encounter on 259 for 9. Another such total in this match and first innings at least should be a strong possibility.

Defending champs Queen's Park would also love a repeat of their first round batting effort when they travel into the valley to face the Santa Cruz Sports Association at the Brian Lara Recreation Ground.

Skipper Andre Lawrence led the way then with a career-best 185 not out. Lawrence and his Parkites would, however, have been disappointed that, with that huge total, they were unable to snatch first innings points.

Like Queen's Park, Santa Cruz, beaten by three wickets by Moosai Sports in the first round, have just eight points. And they will be seeking to make up lost ground even though they will again be without club captain, Lincoln Roberts, away on West Indies duty.

A game that should also see some very keen competition is the match-up between leaders Moosai (25 pts) and Caroni Wanderers (16) at Honeymoon Park.

Outright wins in three-day matches are not common. So the easterners will be buoyed by that come-from-behind success against Santa Cruz and keen to clinch as many points as possible against a Wanderers side just nine points off the lead.

In the other match today, Sims Central Sports, still struggling to regroup after losing several key players, will travel to Wilson Road in Penal to play Clarke Road. All matches start at 1 p.m.

Ian Bishop, Dennis Rampersad, Leon Romero, Richard Smith, David Williams, Mukesh Persad, Dinanath Ramnarine, Marlon Black, Mervyn Dillon, Avidesh Samaroo, Vishal Persad-Maharaj, Ken Hazel, Navin Chan, Asif Jan, Imran Jan.

Source :: The Trinidad Express (https://www.trinidad.net/express/)