West Indies: Shell /Sandals players pull no-show (3 Sep 1997)

Wednesday, September 3, 1997

Shell /Sandals players pull no-show...Board sends out SOS

By GARTH WATTLEY

THE Shell Sandals regional one-day competition is just over a month away. But back-to-back champs Trinidad and Tobago cannot find their players!

National team manager/coach Rangy Nanan has put out an APB for his missing men so the Shell/Sandals preparation can get cracking. In fact, the manner of preparation of the national senior and junior teams is expected to be discussed this weekend when the officers of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board of Control meet.

For Nanan however, the immediate concern is getting a squad together. The T&T manager/coach told the Express yesterday that on average, just five of the 24 players selected to train with the national team have been turning out for weekday sessions at the Queen's Park Oval. The personnel problem has been caused in part by the unavailability of a number of players (12) who have been playing cricket abroad. Included in this group are West Indies players Phil Simmons, Mervyn Dillon and Dinanath Ramnarine who, along with Richard Smith, have been playing in the just-concluded Jamaica County Championships, and David Williams who had been playing in the United States.

"We don't have much time left," a concerned Nanan lamented, even as he discussed plans for a trial scheduled for Gilbert Park on Sunday. "It is a must that the players be at the Oval for 3.30 p.m. on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturday mornings at 9.30 a.m.," Nanan added. On Saturday, the officers of the TTCBC's Executive are expected to have a meeting with the players from 12.30 p.m.

The T&T youth team's recent performance at the NorTel West Indies tournament in Guyana, could also be a hot topic for the TTCBC this weekend.

The result of the disquiet surrounding the team's weak batting display, could be an overhaul of national cricket's coaching and training systems.

T&T and the Leeward Islands finished joint-second to five-time champions Guyana. But the local batsmen failed to put up more than one total of over 200.

Board president Alloy Lequay was not impressed. "I am totally disappointed by the batting performances. That's one of the things we will discuss. What is happening with the batting and to what extent are the coaches to be blamed," he said. "Every year," Lequay added, " there are batting failures," his comments being extended to the players at senior level.

"That is a very, very, big concern. Something must be radically wrong for the batting to be failing so often," he said. The concern was shared by NorTel manager and senior team selector Alec Burns.

He described the youth side's display as "creditable". But continued, "we had expected to win having started so well. After having a 12-point cushion after the third round, the last thing we expected to do was lose."

Technical frailty, the T&T manager contended, was at the heart of the national side's failure.

"Our game fell down a bit (technically)," Burns confessed. "It was something we recognised early. But we felt it may have been doing more harm than good interfering with a player's technique so close to the tournament."

However, for the future, the manager is advocating a change in the policy of coaching and preparation. "There are certain technical aspects of a player's game you need time to work on," Burns explained. And while he said preparation for NorTel was adequate "under the circumstances", he said more time and specialised assistance was needed to develop the talent.

"You cannot call people to trials," Burns said of senior and junior players, "and expect to coach them for a tournament a month away. There must be an off-season period where you have people earmarked and you give them to the technical staff."

The manager also called for serious work to be done on the "mental approach" of national players.

In the Guyana tournament Burns said, many were found wanting. At the moment, Nanan may be inclined to support Burns's call. Following is the list of players called up for Shell/Sandals training: Brian Lara, Suruj Ragoonath, Phil Simmons, Andre Lawrence, Lincoln Roberts, Richard Smith, Darren Ganga, Mahadeo Bodoe, Dennis Rampersad, David Williams, Armanath Basdeo, Ian Bishop, Mervyn Dillon, Nigel Francis, Marlon Black, Eugene Antoine, Dinanath Ramnarine, Rajindra Dhanraj, Ken Hazel, Mukesh Persad, Avidesh Samaroo, Asif Jan, Leon Romero and Emmerson Williams.

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