Bassarath pleased with quality of domestic youth cricket

AZIM Bassarath, Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) president, is impressed with the high standard of cricket being played at the ongoing Scotiabank NextGen Under-15 and The Price Club-Tiger Tanks Trinidad Ltd Under-19 Youth Series tournaments.

These competitions were among the first to kick start the 2022 domestic season after two years of inactivity owing to covid19.

The U15 final, between South East and Central, bowls off at the National Cricket Centre in Couva from 9.30am on Friday while the U19 final got underway at the same venue on Wednesday.

Thus far, both tourneys have lived up to the billing and even surpassed expectations, even though players were not allowed to compete locally since March 2020.

On the return of domestic youth cricket, Bassarath said, “The response we have gotten from players, parents and supporters has been overwhelming. This is something they have been looking forward to.

“It’s been a long time since the U19 players were given the opportunity to go on the field. The standard of cricket has been surprisingly high, with a couple centuries. We’re now into the final stage of the Scotiabank U15.

“Only yesterday (Monday), in one match, there were two centuries. So the standard has been high. The enthusiastic approach shown has been great.

“We’re very pleased with what we have seen so far. More spectators are coming out. People were looking forward for cricket to resume. The support has been overwhelming.”

The TTCB has proven to be one of the most prepared national sporting organisations following the government’s recent lift in covid19 restrictions which allowed sport to resume, with restrictions.

They have already completed an entire star-studded T10 (Dream XI) tournament, with vaccinated fans only, at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba.

There are approximately five national and inter-zone competitions currently underway and other competitions scheduled to begin soon.

Bassarath believes the cricket board’s intense planning over the past two years, in anticipation of a restart to sport, has allowed them to deliver an almost seamless return to play. He anticipates a positive future for the enthusiastic young cricketers.

“I can just imagine what would happen in two or three years’ time when children are given the opportunity to go back on the field to play. We’re continuously playing now so that we expect that very soon TT would be producing very high-quality players for the West Indies,” he added.

Asked how the TTCB and clubs were coping with the new government-mandated return to play policies, Bassarath said they’ve had no issues so far.

The TTCB has mandated that all players must be fully vaccinated for covid19 if they are to be selected for any TTCB-sanctioned tournament.

“There have been no complaints regarding the protocols. The clubs and administrators are happy. We had a 90 per cent vaccination rate prior. And now, players who haven’t taken the vaccine are taking it now.

“Very soon we will get to 100 per cent. We have stuck to our guns that only vaccinated people will be allowed to play. When cricketers see what is taking place on the field, they will go and get vaccinated,” he said.

Additionally, the U17 Youth Series, sponsored by The Price Club, bowls off on Monday. After each youth (U15, U17 and U19) tournament, four teams will be picked from each age group to compete against each other.

The best players from these three four-team tournaments will then be selected for their respective North/South Classic matches. Following this, the cream of the crop will be selected to form TT’s national youth teams for the upcoming regional tourneys.

The regional competitions begin with the U17s from July 17-28 (hosts TT), U15s from August 15-28 (Grenada) and U19s from August 17-28 (St Vincent).