Ramdin stresses strong finish to four-day season

Trinidad and Tobago Red Force captain Denesh Ramdin wants his batsmen to rebound after a dismal effort in the last round when the Digicel Regional Four-Day Cricket tournament resumes after the Christmas break, at 10 am, today.

Third-placed Red Force will play fifth-placed Leeward Islands Hurricanes at the Queen’s Park Oval in St Clair.

For several years, TT’s batting has been woefully short of what is expected, but despite a better showing this season, they have not been consistent.

In the last round, the batsmen did not deliver, falling to a 208-run defeat to Barbados Pride at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba. Red Force scored 214 in the first innings, followed by 116 in the second innings.

The TT selectors have made four changes to the squad from the last match with Kyle Hope, Tion Webster, Yannic Cariah and Steven Katwaroo all coming into the team.

The players that have been dropped are Isaiah Rajah, Akeil Cooper, Roshon Primus and Ricky Jaipaul.

Ramdin, the TT captain, has been leading from the front and is the second leading run scorer this season with 564 runs.

He is calling on his batsmen to occupy the crease for as long as possible.

“It is basically spending time in the middle, batting a longer period of time (and) trying to follow in my footsteps,” Ramdin said.

“I try to explain to them, the longer you bat out there, is the more runs you going to get – not in the pavilion. So hopefully over the last three games, someone else puts up their hand and gets the runs for the team, which is very important (and) not only myself doing it all the time.”

With three rounds remaining this season, Ramdin is looking for a better overall performance, starting with the match against the Hurricanes.

“It is very important that we change our mindset and our attitude from last year to this year, (we need) a little more effort in the field from the guys. We have put in a lot of work off the field and it is very important that we stay focused on the field. The next three games is very important.

“We are trying to take one game at a time, play against the Leewards here and try to get the upper hand and get those points moving forward into next week.”

Hope, who recently returned from a dismal West Indies tour of New Zealand, is aiming to make an impact.

“As always, once I play for Trinidad (and Tobago) I always pride myself in doing well and I would just like to come back and continue what they have built on. The last couple games was a bit tough, but it is still some bright spots for guys getting scores. Obviously captain (has been) scoring big, so I will just like to contribute to that and hopefully we could be on the winning side next couple games,” Hope said.

RED FORCE SQUAD: Denesh Ramdin (captain), Jeremy Solozano, Amir Jangoo, Ewart Nicholson, Imran Khan, Bryan Charles, Daniel St Clair, Khary Pierre, Anderson Phillip, Kyle Hope, Tion Webster, Yannic Cariah, Steven Katwaroo.

FIXTURES (10 am)

TT Red Force vs Leeward Islands Hurricanes, Queen’s Park Oval

Jamaica Scorpions vs Guyana Jaguars, Sabina Park

Barbados Pride vs Windward Islands Volcanoes, Kensington Oval