West Indies: Nortel Championship - Changes coming (14 Jul 1998)

14 July 1998

Changes coming for NorTel

By Garth Wattley

THE first brilliantly bright day of the tournament still brought not a ball of action in Trinidad. But the 1998 NorTel West Indies Under-19 cricket competition could be heading in a brand new direction.

President of the host Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board confirmed yesterday that proposals have been submitted for approval to the West Indies Cricket Board.

"I had done a contingency plan since the second day of the tournament," Lequay told the Express.

"I've submitted them to the West Indies Board and the managers." It was being speculated that limited-over play would be introduced. But declining to discuss details, Lequay would only say that two different proposals had been put on the table for discussion by the WICB and the team managers.

Lequay also ruled out the shifting of the tournament to another territory.

No change in format is expected before July 20 when the group fixtures would have been completed.

Talk of contingency plans has come at a time when the TTCB has been defending itself against allegations that it had gone ahead and staged the tournament against better advice.

In response, the local board faxed to the media copies of a letter sent to the WICB in September 1997. The letter says that "our Executive is concerned that the dates proposed 13 June to 19 July will be affected by inclement weather."

But the local board's proposal for staging the tournament in March/April was rejected.

On the field though, there still was no story. For the fifth day in a row, no play was possible in the championships matches. The three-day first round games were completely swamped by seasonal showers. So was the scheduled start of the second round on Sunday.

And yesterday, while the country enjoyed sunny skies, there was again no joy for the players of the Leeward Islands and Jamaica at Presentation College, Chaguanas. A very sodden outfield and a damp pitch did not dry sufficiently for play to be possible.

At the Sir Frank Worrell ground at UWI At Augustine, no play was possible before 3 p.m. But while the umpires and the Windward Islands team was set to play, the Barbados squad could not be found.

Over in Tobago, there was again some action, with home team Trinidad and Tobago getting to 210 for 8 declared, skipper Darren Ganga getting to 49.

Jamaica v Leeward Islands. Play abandoned for the day.

Barbados v Windward Islands. Play abandoned for the day.

Trinidad & Tobago v Canada

T&T 210 for 8 dec. (D.Ganga 49, A.Jackson 36, Z.Ali 21, N.Chan 17 not out; K.Sandher 4-45, J.Patraj 2-28) v Canada 33 for 0 (D.Mills 10 n.o., D.McGowan 10 n.o.).

Guyana v NorTel Development XI

Guyana 341 for 5 dec. (R.Sarwan 108, S.Massiah 75, H.Pooran 50 n.o., N.Deonarine 50 n.o.; P.Keating 2/69, R.McLean 1/37, I.Baksh 1/41) v NorTel Development XI 32 for 5 (R.Sarwan 3/9, L.Persad 2/8).

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