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TRINIDAD AND Tobago have won the regional championship five times since it became an annual league fixture in 1966 – in 1970, 1971, 1976 (shared with Barbados), 1985 and 2006.
While they began this season in style with two wins against Jamaica Scorpions and Windward Islands Volcanoes, they have been brought back to the reality of being a losing team with considerable defeats at the hands of Leeward Islands Hurricanes, at the Diego Martin Sporting Complex and Barbados Pride, at the Brian Lara Cricket Stadium. And TT Red Force have all five games at home!
Although there are no crowds to boast of a home advantage, at least familiarity of the pitches and grounds could have been used to give one the edge. Because of pandemic issues, the region was left with little time to complete their schedule, hence, the tournament was shortened to one round only, which should have made the Red Force a favourite to win the title, especially after being victorious in their first two games. One couldn’t ask for better, even if given a choice.
Nevertheless, after all is said and done, the performances or should I say the non-performances of the Red Force cricketers in the previous two matches, leaves one at a loss for words. It was pitiful to the extreme. The bowling was generally good, the fielding could have been sharper but the batting was so hopeless to be unbelievably bad, for a team striving to win a competition that has just six contenders.
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Leewards and Barbados, the two teams that ground us into the dust, were quite professional in their approach to the games. TT, on the other hand seemed demotivated, lacklustre in the field and downspirited, almost as if nothing mattered. After surrendering to the Hurricanes by the wide margin of 187 runs, it was hard to understand how they could capitulate so meekly just one week later, to the Pride.
The batting in this game was so bad that the Red Force batsmen appeared to be a schoolboy team playing against professionals. And, as I mentioned, Barbados were very professional.
I’ve come to the conclusion, after analysis and close inspection of the Red Force team, it would be a good idea to make changes and begin to give some younger cricketers exposure and experience of First-Class cricket, in the final game against Guyana Harpy Eagles.
Darren Bravo is the first one I would suggest that should be left out. He looked like a batsman that hasn’t practised in months. He’s not picking up the ball out of the bowler's hand quickly enough, a sure sign of a lack of practice. His scoring rate reflects a batsman who is disconnected to the game, revealing a lackadaisical approach.
At the age of 33, he ought to be scoring a bundle of runs, given his ability and experience; whatsoever, he is nothing like the batsman he once was, being so out of touch that I wonder whether he can recover. The older one gets, the tougher it is to train; more effort is needed. But, he doesn’t appear to have the will for the hard grind required.
Jason Mohammed has now passed his best. He played one of the best innings it was my pleasure to witness, some years ago at the Queen’s Park Oval. Though the details are foggy I remember well that he scored a century in a limited overs game against Guyana on a terrible wicket on which Sunil Narine ran through the opposition with figures of 5 for 9.
It was a final I believe, but the innings was memorable for its application and brilliant stroke-play. Nonetheless, he’s obviously passed it and has become too inconsistent a performer. At 34 years old, Mohammed has to stand aside for a younger replacement.
Shannon Gabriel is injury prone. He was obviously not match-ready for these games. He bowled unluckily but not penetratively. His main weapon is pace. Now that he’s 34, he’s passed the prime time age for fast bowling and he hasn’t the skill to change from bowling pace to concentrating on seam and swing.
It’s not to say that the above players would be put out to pasture, it’s just that, as TT can’t win, it's an opportunity to open the door to give youth a chance.
They should keep Jeremy Solozano and Keagan Simmons, although failing, as they have the ability but need to build confidence. Maybe they ought to expose the reserves, cricketers in waiting, as replacements for those mentioned above.
 
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