Coach Williams lauds Under-17 squad

Coach Williams lauds Under-17 squad
Monday, July 6 2015

HOSTS TRINIDAD and Tobago will attempt to wrest the West Indies Under-17 Cricket title from Barbados when the fourth edition of the championship bowls off tomorrow in Tobago. The tournament will once again take the form of 50-over matches, played on a round-robin basis among the six regional teams.

The TT squad, composed mostly of players from teams who competed in the Secondary Schools League, has spent more than a month preparing for the event at their base at the National Cricket Centre (NCC) in Balmain, Couva.

Kelvin Williams is their coach, having taken over the reins in mid-June; the former national all-rounder has had roughly 14 sessions with the players. “We also had a camp, which I thought was very successful,” Williams said.

The squad includes a few players who bring with them the invaluable experience of playing in last year’s event, including Kirstan Kallicharan, the Vishnu Boys’ Hindu College all-rounder, who will captain the unit. Another player expected to play a key role is Keegan Simmons.

Williams is also expecting good contributions from the newcomers, including the Naparima College standout, Cephas Cooper, who he described as a “talented batsman.”

“We have an intelligent group of players,” Williams said. “If they play according to what we have before us, we should do well.”

Williams admitted that the team preparation “didn’t go according to plan,” due to the unpredictability of the weather at this time of year. “We tried to make use of whatever was available,” he said, noting that a lot of work had to be done indoors at the NCC.

Naturally, he could not venture any predictions.

Last year, the Barbadians were deserving champions, winning three of five games and losing only to the Windward Islands; their game against Guyana was rained out.

Williams said the team manager, Cowen John has been keeping him in touch with the weather patterns in Tobago, and he noted with some optimism that while there has been a lot of rain on the eastern side of the island, the weather has been much more suitable for cricket in the west.

Matches will be played at Shaw Park, Louis D’Or, Canaan and Mt Pleasant.

The TT squad flew over to the sister isle yesterday afternoon and they will open their campaign against the Leeward Islands tomorrow at Louis D’Or.