Coach Emrit : Mohammed a guiding light for Red Force

RED FORCE coach Rayad Emrit remains hopeful his 2025 West Indies Championship star-batsman Jason Mohammed can fully recover before round four bowls off against West Indies Academy at Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua on March 5.

Mohammed is TT’s leading run-scorer after three matches this season, with a whopping 481 runs, and will be key to possibly guiding the Red Force to the coveted crown that has eluded them since 2006.

However, just before the two-week break, Mohammed suffered a groin injury and is yet to recover fully. The all-rounder was due to travel with the team to Antigua on March 3, and will be assessed before to see if he can resume play.

“Jason Mohammed is still not 100 per cent fit and we’ll be doing an assessment on him on Tuesday to determine if he’ll be playing in this game. We’re not sure what the situation will be to play but we’re hoping he is good,” Emrit said.

On Mohammed’s contributions so far, Emrit said his seniority in the team and current form motivate the younger batsmen. He remains a critical element in the team, Emrit added.

“His presence is very important. He’s the most senior player and batter in the team. The way he’s been batting it shows. For me, the youngsters who have batted with him, they enjoy it, and he’s guiding them while they’re batting with him. He’s been in some really important partnerships for us. He’s someone we’re hoping is fit. But if it doesn’t happen, then there’s good guys on the bench.”

If Mohammed is not fully fit for round four, Emrit has faith that his benched players will step up and be suitable replacements.

Over the two-week break, Emrit’s troops worked on different aspects of their game. Some returned to their respective clubs to play in the ongoing premiership one tournament to keep form while others had to rest and recover from a demanding first three matches.

West Indies Academy, though, have not won any of their three matches, losing two and drawing one.

Emrit isn’t too worried if Mohammed misses this match but hopes he can bounce back for the remaining fifth to seventh rounds, where they meet tougher opposition in Barbados Pride, Jamaica Scorpions and defending champions Guyana Harpy Eagles in their final match.

Having earned two wins and a draw, TT (55.4 pts) sit in second position on the eight-team standings with Guyana (57.6 pts) atop. He wants his squad to continue on in good stride but remain vigilant, particularly in the final three rounds.

Emrit applauded his team’s contributions so far.

“It’s been a very good start to the season and the guys know how crucial these two weeks (break) are. They know they’ve been putting in some really good work. But the two coming weeks will be more important because this is where the season is really going to start for us.

“If we can get a good game against the Academy team, heading into Barbados, I think we’d be set in a really good position. Barbados is one of the tougher teams in the tournament and the last three games are probably going to be the toughest for us. If we get past the Academy team, it may be a lot easier for us in the remaining rounds,” he added.

Emrit was part of the 2006 West Indies Championship title-winning team for TT. Not only does he want to end the 19-year title drought, but lifting the trophy as coach this time around, would be more special.

“It is important as everyone wants to win. To me, as a coach, you want to win but what’s more important for me is to develop better cricketers so when they go on to the international stage they can do well for West Indies. That’s my main goal.

“Yes I want to win, and it would be extremely good for me to win. I’ve won as a player and to win as a coach would be even better. My goal is to try to improve the standard of cricket not just in TT, but for the region, and hopefully, TT players would go on to the international and dominate, and put WI cricket back to where it was.”

When asked what he thinks the team needs to do to increase their chances of coming out on top, Emrit said consistency from his batsmen remains pivotal.

“They just need to continue to bat well. The bowlers will do their job. I have no doubt our bowlers will get us the wickets but we need to continue batting well. We’ve been doing it consistently in the first three games so we need to do the right things consistently.”

After TT defeated Combined Campuses and Colleges in their opening match, then-head coach David Furlonge resigned his post, which elevated Emrit to the helm.

He oversaw TT’s win over Windward Islands Volcanoes and a draw against Leeward Islands Hurricanes but wants to keep the positive momentum going.

“The guys understand the job at hand. I’ve been having some healthy conversations with them and they know the task at hand and what it takes to accomplish the goal we set out to achieve.”