While we beat our chests and walk with our noses pointing up, saying we are T20 kings, we must recognise that at this point in time there is no better cricket team in the Caribbean than Jamaica.
T&T has dominated the T20s and did fairly well in the Super50–as a matter of fact, played unbeaten this season–but their record in REAL cricket, which is the first class version, is abysmal. Whilst the Jamaicans have run away with the last five regional titles, we have none to show with the last coming in 2006 under the leadership of Daren Ganga.
This season, T&T has played six first class matches, losing three and winning three. We are still in the running to win the title primarily because the other teams have played so badly.
The last game against Barbados brought to the surface a problem that has been buried all season and that is the local team's batting. While I take into consideration the fact that we have lost many players to the West Indies team and the Indian Premier League (IPL), my issue lies with the manner of dismissals.
I did not expect the youngsters replacing the senior men to set the place afire but at least I expected them to put value to their wickets. Of all the young men coming in, I was most impressed by Stephen Katwaroo. The young wicketkeeper batsman was preferred for the first class matches when regular skipper Denesh Ramdin was on West Indies duty. In the three innings he played he scored two half-centuries–one in which he was run out–and 29 again getting run out.
I sat in the Gerry Gomez Media Centre and looked at this young man build an innings against the Combined Campuses and Colleges–'build,' being the operative word here. He took his time, initially, to assess the pitch conditions but more than that he was assessing his team's position all the way along.
He fought a good fight in the early stages and slowly started to get on top of the bowling and carved out a half-century that was worth a century in my book. I wondered how many of the other batsmen sat down and looked at his approach.
His approach was similar to that of legendary West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who is a master at constructing an innings. Too many of our batsmen seemed at sea when it came to building an innings. When players build innings, they ultimately build partnerships and this leads to good team scores.
I feel it for young Adrian Barath, a batsman with tremendous talent. He has shown glimpses of his touch this season but against Barbados he seemed unsure of how to go about his innings. Whether to play naturally or be defensive. Prior to this game he chose to build an innings and anchored the T&T batting and was starting to produce the goods. Barath needs to go back to that method.
Bryan Davis, a man for whom I have a lot of respect, said Barath, during his youth days at Queen's Park cricket clinic, was always one to take his time and build an innings and he wants the Queen's Park opener to go back that being just that way.
I am of the firm view that T20 cricket is destroying players' ability to construct innings. If you are not adaptable, you are going to fail and players must understand this. T20 cricket is great for what it is but the players must understand their role in every situation. Brian Lara plays golf right-handed because he did not want to interfere with his left-handed batting. It comes down to understanding your game and understanding what is required to be successful in the different formats and adapting as quickly as possible. It is my fervent hope that the national players go back to their clubs for the domestic league this weekend and go back to basics and start the re-building process.
?