T&T coach David Williams is confident that he has the right pieces in place to mount a challenge to win the Caribbean Twenty20 Tournament for an unprecedented third straight year.
The former West Indies wicketkeeper and assistant coach re-taken the reins of directing strategy for the two-island republic's national team and has brought his usual calm, measured approach to the job.
He expects a major challenge from the other six teams, but believes the Red Force have the depth to win again.
Last year, they had an early slip-up against Windward Islands, but rebounded to hammer all their opponents, including an easy win over Jamaica in the Final. "We have a good mix of youth and experience," said Williams, "...and once we play to our true potential, we can win the tournament again.
"We're fully confident...The team we have is one with lots of experience. I'm certain once we have experience, we can win the tournament again. "We have quite a few players who were members of the victorious West Indies teams, as well as others who are capable of great things at this level. We have included a few new, young players who are eager to represent T&T. The signs are all positive."
T&T have a few of the best T20 players in the World. They include all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, power-hitter Kieron Pollard and ace spinner Sunil Narine-all three were important members of the West Indies team which won the ICC World T20 Tournament in Sri Lanka in October.
T&T participated in the Champions League in South Africa earlier this year and a defeat to Yorkshire in the first qualifier ended their run before it even began. Williams is hoping to have another shot at that competition next year, the prize for the 2013 Caribbean T20 winners.
"In South Africa it was tough," he explained. "We knew (if we lost) one game, we were out. We did prepare very well prior for that tournament, but we just didn't play well enough in that game, particularly when bowling. That knocked us out."
This year's Caribbean T20 will see a change in format this year with all the teams facing each other in a round-robin stage.
Williams welcomes the change, which he believes will not affect his team's chances to keep the trophy in T&T.
"The round-robin didn't happen in South Africa, which was a one-off qualifier," he said. "We're happy with the new format. We're happy to play against all the teams and that augurs well for the team that wins the tournament."
The T&T players have been in camp for a few weeks and this will lead straight into their opening match against Jamaica before home fans at the Queen's Park Oval next Sunday.
Full Squads
Barbados: Dwayne Smith (Captain), Shamarh Brooks (Vice Captain), Sulieman Benn, Tino Best, Carlos Brathwaite, Justin Brathwaite, Jonathan Carter, Rolston Chase, Shane Dowrich, Fidel Edwards, Ryan Hinds, Kyle Mayers, Ashley Nurse, Javon Searles.
Combined Campuses and Colleges: Kyle Corbin (Captain), Sunil Ambris, Ryan Austin, Derone Davis, Akeem Dewar, Jason Holder, Kevin McClean, Wayne Morgan, Kristopher Ramsaran, Floyd Reifer, Raymon Reifer, Chadwick Walton, Ryan Wiggins, Kesrick Williams.
Guyana: Veerasammy Permaul (Captain), Christopher Barnwell (Vice Captain), Ronsford Beaton, Devendra Bishoo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Derwin Christian, Royston Crandon, Narsingh Deonarine, Jonathan Foo, Trevon Griffith, Steven Jacobs, Leon Johnson, Rajiv Ivan, Ramnaresh Sarwan.
Jamaica: Tamar Lambert (Captain), David Bernard Jr. (Vice Captain) Nkrumah Bonner, Odean Brown, John Campbell, Sheldon Cotterell, Yannick Elliott, Danza Hyatt, Andre McCarthy, Jamie Merchant, Nikita Miller, Andre Russell, Krishmar Santokie, Aldane Thomas.
Leeward Islands: Sylvester Joseph (Captain), Kieran Powell (Vice Captain), Justin Athanaze, Shane Burton, Rahkeem Cornwall, Jahmar Hamilton, Chesney Hughes, Javia Liburd, Anthony Martin, Lyndel Richardson, Garvin Tonge, Devon Thomas, Kelbert Walters, Tonito Willett.
Trinidad and Tobago: Denesh Ramdin (Captain), Darren Bravo (Vice Captain), Samuel Badree, Dwayne Bravo, Kevon Cooper, Shannon Gabriel, Jason Mohammed, Sunil Narine, Yannick Ottley, Evin Lewis, William Perkins, Kieron Pollard, Ravi Rampaul, Lendl Simmons.
Windward Islands: Darren Sammy (Captain), Miles Bascombe, Tade Carmichael, Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Lyndon James, Delorn Johnson, Keddy Lesporis, Garey Mathurin, Kenroy Peters, Nelon Pascal, Liam Sebastien, Shane Shillingford, Devon Smith.
Full Tournament Schedule
AT QUEEN'S PARK OVAL,
Port-of-Spain, Trinidad
Sunday, January 6
Opening Ceremony-4 pm
Trinidad & Tobago vs Jamaica-8 pm
Monday, January 7
Barbados vs Leeward Islands-4 pm
Guyana vs Combined Campuses & Colleges-8 pm
Tuesday, January 8
Jamaica vs Barbados-4 pm
Trinidad & Tobago vs Combined Campuses & Colleges-8 pm
Wednesday, January 9
Windward Islands vs Jamaica-4 pm
Trinidad & Tobago vs Leeward Islands-8 pm
Thursday, January 10
Combined Campuses & Colleges vs Windward Islands-4 pm
Guyana vs Barbados-8 pm
Friday, January 11
Leeward Islands vs Jamaica-4 pm
Combined Campuses & Colleges vs Barbados-8 pm
Saturday, January 12
Windward Islands vs Leeward Islands-4 pm
Trinidad & Tobago vs Guyana-8 pm
AT BEAUSEJOUR CRICKET GROUND, Gros Islet, St Lucia
Tuesday, January 15
Guyana vs Jamaica-4 pm
Windward Islands vs Trinidad & Tobago-8 pm
Wednesday, January 16
Combined Campuses & Colleges vs Leeward Islands-4 pm
Barbados vs Trinidad & Tobago-8 pm
Thursday, January 17
Leeward Islands vs Guyana-4 pm
Windward Islands vs Barbados-8 pm
Friday, January 18
Combined Campuses & Colleges vs Jamaica-4 pm
Windward Islands vs Guyana-8 pm
Saturday, January 19
Play-off: 2nd Place vs 3rd Place-8 pm
Sunday, January 20
Grand Final: 1st Place vs Winner of Play-off-8 pm