TTCB president Bassarath defends National League's 2023 approach

PRESIDENT OF the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) Azim Bassarath defended the decisions of his National League committee to have three of its Premiership I League fixtures begin on a Friday, as well as the continuing decision to have two Queen’s Park Cricket Club (QPCC) teams compete in the same tournament, with only one foreign player allowed.

This comes after newly-appointed Clarke Road coach Dinesh Mahabir questioned the fixtures presented by the committee at the board’s final executive meeting in mid-December.

Mahabir said a club fielding two teams in the same competition is “unprecedented in cricket anywhere in the world” and could lead to “unfair competition and a monopoly on talent” which might make it “completely unfair to other clubs in the league.”

QPCC II earned Premiership I qualification in 2016, after they won the Premiership II crown. This meant, for the 2017 season, they would have had two teams – QPCC I and QPCC II – competing in the same tournament.

Bassarath however, said QPCC were deserving of their promotion since they battled through every lower ranked competition, to earn their spot in the domestic top flight.

“QPCC has a number of players, maybe the most cricketers in the country, who are aligned or are members of their club. They have developed their players over the years. While they have a team in the top echelon of TT cricket, they had teams playing in the zonal competitions.

“They would have won these zonal competitions coming up and continued winning until two teams ended up in the premiership one division. It is indeed commendable for any club to achieve.

“It is not forbidden in the constitution of the board or its regulations. That is allowed. Nothing is wrong with that,” Bassarath said.

Mahabir added that QPCC I and II do not play each other in the first game of every format and suggested that it should be this way to prevent the possibility of leaving the door open to collusion when they play each other.

“Would you have QPCC I and II play each other the last game of a season when it determines their final finish and rank? For this reason they must play each other first,” he said.

However, Bassarath confirmed that each team received a copy of the 2023 fixtures since early December and it clearly states that both QPCC teams play each other in the second match of the Premiership I league (two and three-day matches) and 50-over tournaments.

“They (QPCC teams) are playing each other in the second game (of each format). The board is not that irresponsible to have two teams from the same club playing in the last match of the tournament. That is totally unacceptable and the board will never do anything like that,” said the local cricket president.

Mahabir said he hopes this rule stands if another club climbs through the ranks and breaks into the premiership.

Additionally, QPCC executive member Jeffrey Guillen said the club is deserving of having two teams in the league and defended their club ethics.

“He’s questioning our ethics and the league’s. QPCC doesn’t play cricket like that. We don’t sell games. I think the last time the teams met in the league, the match was drawn.

“QPCC doesn’t play cricket that way. We have very high standards we maintain on and off the field and that will continue. QPCC deserves to have two teams in the league because we won the championship outright,” he said.

Mahabir also highlighted that three of the seven Premiership I League matches will be contested over three days while the remaining four, contested over two days.

The three three-day rounds are round one, four and seven. These matches begin on Friday and run daily until Sunday.

The Clarke Road coach said that TTCB placed fixtures on Fridays, “without regard for players who have to work for a living and young players who are still in school.”

He said this rule was designed to suit bigger clubs who can afford to pay their players on a full-time basis. He deemed this decision as biased.

In this regard, Bassarath chimed in, saying, “During 2022, we had three T10 tournament and not one player had an issue to play on a weekday. This is only three Fridays for the year. So we’re not accepting any lame excuses from any club.

“We want the cricket to be played over three consecutive days. Who doesn’t want to play, let them not play. We will go ahead to do whatever we have to do for the interest of cricket in TT and for the young people.

“The executive gives the premier league committee the responsibility to run the cricket. We expect them to run out in the best interest of TT cricket and not to the benefit of any club.”

Last Wednesday, the TTCB premiership committee sent out a correspondence to all member clubs, from matters arising out of the December meeting, that Premier I League cricket remains the same for the new season.

The first round of Premiership I League fixtures bowl off on February 3 and will see QPCC I up against Preysal, Central Sports versus Victoria, Comets facing QPCC II and Powergen squaring off with Clarke Road.

The same fixtures will be used for the 50-over format, scheduled to start on April 1.