T&T Names Ganga Red Stripe Captain

West Indies 'A' team captain Daren Ganga was appointed by the Trinidad and Tobago?s cricket selectors to lead the country?s team in the upcoming Red Stripe Bowl tournament in St Lucia from August 14 to September 1.

The right-handed opening batsman is currently leading the regional ?A? team in a series of One-day matches in Toronto against Canada. And the Trinidad and Tobago team will be without the services of a specialised coach for the tournament.

According to Rambhai Patel, Administrative Manager of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board of Control, regular coach of the team, Phil Simmons is unavailable and former West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop has been asked to take the responsibilities of the cricketing aspect of the team.

Former West Indies youth and Trinidad and Tobago captain, Dudnath Ramkessoon will take care of the administrative duties.

Included in the 14-man-squad are West Indies players, among them batsman Brian Lara, fast bowlers Mervyn Dillon and Marlon Black and leg-spinner Dinanath Ramnarine.

Also named in the team are West Indies One-day specialist Darrel Brown and West Indies youth players Dwayne Bravo and Lendl Simmons.

Both Bravo and Simmons are in Canada with the West Indies ?A? and the local selectors headed by Bishop have decided to take their chances with the duo in the Red Stripe Bowl championships, rather than the regional U-19 tournament now taking place in Jamaica.

The only newcomer in the team is the Clico Preysal Sports utlility player Shazam Babwah.

Former West Indies youth wicketkeeper Navin Chan and off-spinner Rodney Sooklal have kept their places ahead of Keno Mason and Mukesh Persad respectively, while former captain Richard Smith and opening batsman Andy Jackson have been retained.

There is no room for controversial left-arm spinner Dave Mohammed.

Patel said that Ganga, Black, Simmons and Bravo would join the team on August 10, while net sessions for the other players will continue at the Queen?s Park Oval throughout the week.

T&T SQUAD::
Daren Ganga (captain), Richard Smith, Brian Lara, Andy Jackson, Shazam Babwah, Samuel Badree, Navin Chan, Dinanath Ramnarine, Mervyn Dillon, Marlon Black, Darrel Brown, Lendl Simmons, Rodney Sooklal, Dwayne Bravo.

Reserves: Reyad Emrit, Denzil James, Davindra Krishna. Cricket Manager: Ian Bishop. Manager: Dudnath Ramkessoon.

SOURCE: Guyana Chronicle.