Lara Academy to host 2016/2017 First Class games

President of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board Azim Bassarath is delighted that south Trinidad will again host matches in the Cricket West Indies (CWI) Regional Four-Day tournament, which bowls off at the end of the month.

Cricket West Indies said yesterday it approved the change for the second, fourth and seventh round matches, which had previously been scheduled for the historic Queen’s Park Oval, to be now played at the new Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba.

“This change means that we can now return the game to the south of Trinidad, which again has a venue to stage first-class matches,” said CWI cricket operations manager, Roland Holder.

Red Force will now take on Jamaica Scorpions in round two from November 2-5 in a fixture that will crown the Tarouba venue as a first class venue.

The hosts will also meet three-time reigning champions Guyana Jaguars in the fourth round from November 16-19 before clashing in the seventh round with perennial arch-rivals Barbados Pride from December 14-17.

Bassarath said, “We are very happy to play the games in south because now we have a top class venue. We think it is only fitting that we should try to have a few of the first class games played at the venue.”

The TTCB president said the Lara Academy will replace Guaracara Park in Pointe-a-Pierre which has attracted large crowds in the past for four-day cricket.

“We want to test the venue also to see how good it will stand up over a four-day period. It has been a long while since south Trinidad has staged a first class game at Guaracara Park. There used to be a large turnout at Guaracara Park. We made the decision because we want people to come out and support the cricket because history has shown that people in south Trinidad love their cricket and we are looking forward to hosting a huge crowd for these games that will be played at the Brian Lara Stadium.”

Bassarath said the players are excited to play at both the Oval and the Lara Academy. “The players themselves are very happy to play at both venues and I think from now on we are supposed to see both venues sharing these games.”

TT will play at the Queen’s Park Oval in round three and round eight.