Fitter Da Silva eyes prolific four-day season

WICKET-KEEPER batsman Joshua Da Silva had a memorable 2019, pointing to his improved level of fitness for his prolific period with the bat that he hopes to take into the Regional Four-Day Tournament that bowls off in January.

Talking about his 2020 plans, Da Silva said, “Definitely I would like to get that first (four-day) hundred under my belt, but once given the opportunity just do the best for my team and hopefully we can do better than we did last year and get a few wins.”

Last season, in his debut four-day tournament, Da Silva scored 348 runs in 16 innings at an average of 21.75 with two fifties. Behind the stumps he took 12 catches and completed a stumping.

Da Silva, 21, was the top run-scorer for the West Indies Emerging Players in the 2019 Colonial Medical Insurance Super50 Tournament with 310 runs at an average of 44.28. His contribution led the team to the title at the Queen’s Park Oval in St Clair, on December 1.

The team was a surprise package as the majority of the squad were either players overlooked by their respective franchises or were relatively inexperienced West Indies Under-19 players.

The right-hander continued his brilliant form in the Namalco/TT Cricket Board Under-23 50-Over Cup that ended on December 14. Da Silva had scores of 82 not out, 106 and 32 that guided the North Masqueraders to the final of the tournament that was held to help players with their transition from junior to senior level.

Da Silva, who holds West Indies wicket-keeper Denesh Ramdin and former Australian wicket-keeper Brad Haddin in high regard, said, “It is good to see that the work that I put in was shown and it was nice to get rewards for putting in the hard work, so I was happy being able to provide for my team in each tournament and it was a great feeling.”

TT Red Force coach Mervyn Dillon, who has been in charge for one year, has concentrated on fitness and it seems to be helping Da Silva.

After failing one fitness test previously, Da Silva said he is now much fitter.

“I definitely worked on my fitness a lot more. I was a lot fitter, passing the fitness test. That was the first time I passed the fitness test, so it was a big thing. I did not really change much batting wise, but fitness was a big part of it.”

The Queen’s Park Cricket Club player said although the Emerging Players only came together two days before the 50-Over tournament bowled off, coach Floyd Reifer created a family atmosphere.

“I think a lot of commending will have to go to the coach Floyd Reifer. He definitely knew how to bring us together from day one. He told us we are going to have to merge very quickly as a unit and he did everything that we needed to do (such as) team bonding to get us ready for that first game.”

Da Silva said although they lost the opening match Reifer continued to motivate the players.

The Petit Valley resident hopes the Under-23 tournament continues to help junior players move smootly into the senior ranks. “I think it was a good initiative by the (TT) Cricket Board and it should be a tournament that is continued every year because it definitely helps the players that fall off after Under-19 (level). There is no cricket after Under-19 and very few players carry on to the senior team, so it is a very good initiative and an excellent idea.”