Sampath: Players vying for World Cup spots

MANAGER of the TT Red Force Roland Sampath, expects the Cricket West Indies Super50 Cup to be competitive, as everyone will be trying to impress the selectors to earn selection on the West Indies team for the 2019 ICC World Cup in England and Wales.

The Super50 tournament will be played from October 3 to 28 with group matches being contested in Trinidad and Barbados. The semifinals and finals will also be held in Barbados.

Zone A, which will be played in Trinidad, will feature TT Red Force, Windward Islands Volcanoes, Canada, West Indies B and Guyana Jaguars. Zone B will be based in Barbados including Leeward Islands Hurricanes, Jamaica Scorpions, Combined Colleges and Campuses, USA and Barbados Pride.

The Red Force will play their opening match against defending champions Volcanoes at the Queen’s Park Oval in St Clair from 2 pm today. The Red Force are loaded with experience including captain Denesh Ramdin, vice-captain Dwayne Bravo, Lendl Simmons, Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine and Ravi Rampaul. Sampath says the strong Red Force team must perform on the field.

Sampath said, “Cricket is such an unpredictable game you have to play well on the day. Having a strong team on paper does not say anything, you have to deliver.” Sampath said his team is ready for the challenge and expects his players to play at a high level with the ICC World Cup next year.

“Yes we are ready. We have all these players here who have not played together for a number of years and they are really looking forward to this tournament at home and to do well. You have the greatest incentive, which is vying for selection for World Cup.”

The World Cup will be held in England and Wales from May 30 to July 14, 2019.

Teams will play hard against the Red Force because of the quality in the Red Force team. However, Sampath believes the tournament will be competitive overall because of the World Cup next year.

“Everybody vying for selection, so everybody wants to give their best performance. It is gearing up to be quite interesting and a hard fought tournament,” Sampath said.

TODAY’S MATCHES

Zone A

TT Red Force vs Windward Islands Volcanoes, Queen’s Park Oval, 2 pm

Canada vs West Indies B, Brian Lara Cricket Academy, 2 pm

Guyana Jaguars - Bye