Furlonge: Queen’s Park not reliant on stars

Furlonge: Queen’s Park not reliant on stars

By JOEL BAILEY Tuesday, June 9 2015

COACH OF Queen’s Park David Furlonge has heaped praises on the members of his team after their recent capture of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) Shanghai Construction-sponsored National Cricket League Premiership title, in addition to the Sunday League 50-overs crown.

Queen’s Park finished the Premiership title with a haul of 204 points, with second-placed Merry Boys earning 183. And, in the Sunday League, the Parkites were the only unbeaten squad in the 10-team group, with a maximum of 27 points. In a telephone interview yesterday, Furlonge commented, “it feels great, once you know the team got you success.

“Most of the players, in fact all of them, have (had a) successful year,” he added. “So it’s a great feeling.”

Merry Boys halted the Parkites’ quest for a treble, as they defeated Queen’s Park in the final of the National Gas Company (NGC)- sponsored T20 tournament.

“That’s the only bad feeling,” said Furlonge.

Asked for his analysis of the team’s season, Furlonge responded, “I think our 2015 season was a successful one. We clinched two of the titles. We unfortunately lost one, where we came second, but the season was successful for us.”

He added, “we have won 11 titles over the last six years, out of 18 titles. (Things) continue to be good for us.”

Trinidad and Tobago and West Indies players Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine and Dwayne Bravo all returned to the team after their performances at the 2015 IPL (Indian Premier League).

With regards to the players’ commitment to the club, Furlonge said, “this is something normal for us. These players ask us for the schedule at the beginning of the season, which they have on their phones.

“They’ll call and say ‘look, we’ll be back on so-and-so date so we’ll be available for this game’, and they’ll tell you what game,” he continued. “They don’t say they’re back here and they don’t play for us. Once they are here, they play.

“They always know I’ll keep in contact with them. So it’s good to see that loyalty, that they’ll still continue showing to the club.”

However, Furlonge emphasised that the team was not entirely dependent on their international stars.

“It was a total team effort,” he said. “A youngster like Tion Webster who is just 19 years old doing well. Unfortunately he had an injury which kept him out for about half of the season.

“(We) had young Khary Pierre who also did excellent. I believe he is second in the amount of wickets behind Javon Searles. We had Akeal Hosein.

“We have the young players coming up and it’s good to see them challenging for places, and some of them keeping their places when senior players are here,” Furlonge ended.

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