A leading cricket official here has lashed out at defending champions, Trinidad and Tobago, for their batting display in the opening match of the Caribbean T20 tournament. Vice President of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Association (TTCB), Lalman Kowlessar, has blasted as careless the Red Force's 128 for nine against rival Jamaica on Sunday. Rain forced the game to be abandoned with Jamaica five without loss on the chase. "This is the same type of batting which led to us coming home early from South Africa.
I think they were over confident and played ridiculous shots," said the TTCB executive in reference to the Red Force's early exit from the 2012 Champions League. "The same approach we had there we had on Sunday and it could have cost us the match. It is better we loose with the young fellows than we continue with the same bunch and the result is the same." Kowlessar, also a national youth selector, was particularly critical of the opening batsmen who he feels need to get their act together.
Openers, Lendl Simmons and William Perkins, put on 19 runs from 20 deliveries before being separated and only Dwayne Bravo with a top score of 30 offered any significant resistance. "I think Perkins should be read the riot act, it is time that he starts delivering.
Simmons as well, he is a West Indies player but he is not showing that he deserves to be on the team,"declared Kowlessar. "If they don't want to play they should indicate so and not go out in the middle and make the same mistakes over and over". --Kowlessar took issue with the Trinidadians for failing to mount a serious batting effort against the Jamaicans, who have won all major regional titles except the Caribbean T20. However on Tuesday the host rebounded to register their first victory, a seven wicket win over Combined Campuses and Colleges.
