North/South Classic, U-23 cricket next month

THE month of December will be a busy time for local cricketers as an Under-23 tournament and a North/South Classic will be held.

President of the TT Cricket Board Azim Bassarath made the announcement, at the Queen’s Park Oval, St Clair during the launch of the Ramps Logistics Super Series T20 Tournament, on Wednesday.

Bassarath said the Under-23 tournament will be played as some players have difficulty transitioning from a junior player to a senior player.

Bassarath said, “The TT Cricket Board on a number of occasions would have met people who would have said that the cricket in TT is not doing well and there is a missing link. I want to advise the national community, as I had done before, that come December the TT Cricket Board would be hosting an Under-23 Tournament comprised of four teams ­­­– North, Central, South and East/Tobago – that will be participating in this 50-over tournament.”

The tournament will be played, at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, in Tarouba and at the National Cricket Centre (NCC), in Couva from December 5. “We want people to come out and look at these games because we feel that across the Caribbean the 19 to 23 age group is really a missing link and we took the opportunity to really grab this initiative and run with it in 2019.”

The North/South Classic used to be an annual event in TT with teams fighting for bragging rights, but in recent years the match has not been held on a regular basis.

Bassarath said, “We want to advise the national community that there use to be North/South Classic. It use to be a big game. Brian Lara and some of the great players coming out of those days would have played in those games and this year between Christmas and New Years we will have a three-day North/South Classic and we are also asking the national community to come out and support this initiative.” The match will be played at NCC.