What's Next for T&T Cricket?

(Trinidad Guardian)

For the second year running, manager of the Trinidad & Tobago cricket team, Omar Khan, has repeated his road march cricket tune ? ?Back to the Drawing Board? ? after Trinidad and Tobago failed to earn a place in the semi-final of the Carib Beer International tournament.

Last year, T&T lost to Barbados in the semi-final. Last weekend, the Bajans, in the midst of a ?Maritime War? between the two countries, embarrassed the local team in its own back yard.

Indeed, some blamed the team?s poor performance on Carnival but the national festival is being used as a scape-goat in my opinion, since the team?s record since 1985, has been dismal ? Carnival or no Carnival.

As far as I am concerned, we don?t have cricketers. What we have are people who like cricket. That is why Jamaican-born Ricardo Powell had to be drafted into the team.

In fact, was it not for Powell?s century in T&T?s first innings, Barbados would have beaten us in three days.

Perhaps, the T&TCB could arrange a couple marriages of some Bajan players to T&T women, so that we can field a stronger team to challenge for the title next year.

I have also heard talk that Brian Lara was being blamed for the team?s lacklustre performance as a good knock from him would have made a big difference and inspired the team. But as far as I?m concerned, Lara should not have even been on the field.

I have been told that Lara played only to silence the number of Trinidadians who love to bad talk him.

If he did not play, they would have been bringing him down because they would almost certainly have seen him enjoying himself during the Carnival festivities.

But the reality is that Lara played with an injured right knee which was swollen as large as a coconut and had stitches.

And for those who like to bad talk the West Indies captain, let me add that he was there on the fourth and final day, bright and early, although effectively, his game was completed when he was dismissed on Friday.

But Lara is not the issue here.

We continue to select batsmen who score 20s and 30s in trial matches. If one scores a century, he is almost guaranteed a place in the T&T team for the full season. Ask Anil Kanhai!

What are the records of Kenton Thompson and Earnil Ryan? When last did any of those two players score a hundred?

It is also quite obvious that former Test pacer Marlon Black is past his best.

Manager Khan had high expectations after centuries from Jan (147) and Kanhai (121) during the trials.

After the team?s failure against Barbados, he said: ?It was a disappointing end to the season after a bright start. The technical staff will have to go back to the drawing board. "We lost our final three matches and definitely, it hurts.?

Like Khan, I am disappointed; and this was tempered somewhat on Carnival Monday and Tuesday. But could you imagine that the only team which did not score an outright victory over the visiting Kenyans was T&T?

Last year, it was India ?A? who defeated T&T at Wilson Road.

Guyana lost three matches on the trot, before whipping T&T; and the Jamaicans, with the incentive to prove that they did not need Powell, defeated T&T to have the last laugh.

Where does our cricket go from here, Mr T&TCB?