President of the T&T Cricket Board (TTCB) Azim Bassarath will meet with captains and players who represented T&T this past season, as he looks for answers after the semifinal debacle against the Windwards on the weekend at the Oval.T&T fell to the Islanders by a massive 234 runs in their Headley/Weekes Regional Four-day semifinal clash. The Windwards batting first made 248 and T&T replied with 140 for eight declared. Windwards were then bowled out for 231 in their second essay to set the locals a winning target of 340 runs. Denesh Ramdin's men then folded for just 105 in 29 overs, after being 50 without loss.
Bassarath speaking to T&T Guardian yesterday said: "We, as a board, are extremely disappointed after that performance on the weekend. However, before I deal with that I would like to thankRayad Emrit for the efforts he made for us during the season. He led the team for most of the matches and in addition, he played with real passion and heart and got us into a position where we could have ended up taking the two titles. He delivered for us most times with bat and ball and I must say thanks to him."
Bassarath said he would meet with Emrit and Ramdin next Tuesday. "At the end of every tournament we meet with the captain and the management team to discuss what transpired and we intend to do this next Tuesday at different times."In addition to meeting with the captains, the president would also meet one on one with senior players on the team. "After the meeting with Ramdin and Emrit, I would seek to meet with some of the senior men on the team. I know it will be difficult to meet as most will have cricket commitments but I am giving myself two weeks to meet with these guys.
"I am hoping to discuss their performance with them and to see where we can assist in getting the best out of them. This is not the first time I am doing this. A couple seasons ago I met one on one with all the players after we lost a limited-overs match and it did work well. We got some very useful information from the players and we were able to implement some new ideas and we have seen the results of it. I am hoping to have fruitful discussions and then do whatever it takes to assist them in their development.
"Without meeting the players I can tell you that I think complacency played a big part in their defeat. Imagine a team makes less than 250 each time and still wins the match by 242 runs? This is unacceptable, the guys obviously went into the match thinking they were going into the finals and just did not turn up. Obviously introspection is needed and I am not going to sit by and wait for answers, I am going to look for answers and I must make it clear this would not be a blame game...it would be an exercise to assist with the cricket going forward."