FOURSQUARE, Barbados, CMC – Leeward Islands and Trinidad & Tobago, two teams that promised much prior to the season, will look to get things back on track in their fourth round match of the WICB regional first-class championship, starting today at Foursquare Oval.
Leewards are sixth on the seven-team table with six points from two matches, and T&T are one rung higher with three more points from one more match.
Leewards gained first innings points from Barbados in the opening round in Jamaica, but they stumbled in the second round, when current Championship leaders and reigning champions Jamaica slammed them by seven wickets on home soil in St. Kitts before they drew a bye for the previous round here.
Leewards captain Steve Liburd acknowledged his side let themselves down in the field, and failed to bat properly in their previous match.
“During our practices since we arrived [in Barbados], we have been doing some specific work in those areas, and we are going to look to implement those things during the match,” he said.
“T&T have been struggling this season, so we are looking to keep them down, and not let them get any momentum.
“Cricket is a momentum game, so whether we are batting or bowling, we need seize the moment, and get the upper hand in the match as early as possible.”
T&T suffered an incredible setback at the start of the season, when they lost their opening match to Combined Campuses & Colleges in Jamaica, confidently gained first innings points from a draw against Guyana in Antigua, before conceding first innings points in an epic draw with long-standing rivals Barbados at Kensington Oval.
T&T captain Daren Ganga admits his side is feeling the absence of several key players either through overseas playing commitments or injury, but he believes the Soca Boyz have turned the corner and now looks to finish the season strongly.
“I am pretty satisfied with what I have seen so far, but we have been improving, and we have got four new faces for this match, so hopefully they can fill the shoes of the guys that are missing,” he said.
“If we had our full complement of experienced players, we would have been able to play a lot more positively, but when you have a team of young guys, players feeling their way through, you become a little bit conservative in the way you operate.”
He added: “It has shown this season. We could not be as attacking as we wanted to be, since we do not have the players with that kind of experience at this level.”
