The Nagico Super50 cricket series has already started but the boast of Carnival cricket from the T&T Cricket Board (TTCB) has been absent. While great cricket has been played on the field so far, today the Carnival arrives in the form of the Red Force.Dwayne Bravo's men will face Barbados in their first game of group B at 2 pm and the fans are expected to converge in their numbers at the Oval. Bravo in his first game as captain of the team will be looking for a positive start and will be playing in front of his home crowd on a pitch that he grew up on playing the game.After an intense indoor session at the Hyatt on Friday, the team returned outdoors yesterday and had a good work out at the Queen's Park Oval. Bravo took time out to speak to the media and said: "We have prepared well and as captain I cannot fault the guys. They have worked hard and they are looking forward to getting into the tournament."Our strength is in our all round ability and we are looking forward to going at the Barbadians. It is two good teams coming up against each other and the team that copes better under pressure will win the game."
Bravo said he is looking forward to getting big runs on the Oval pitch :"It is not a traditional Queen's Park Oval pitch which is slow and low. It is now a pitch that is good for batting. I think it is a 260 and over pitch and once you bat well, you will get runs and likewise if you bowl good you will get wickets."He said the Barbadians are a dangerous team and their bowling will hold the key. "They might come in with five top bowlers in Fidel Edwards, Tino Best, Jason Holder, Sullieman Benn and Ashley Nurse. We have to be mindful of them but we know that their batting is not that strong. Once we can get Dwayne Smith and Kirk Edwards early we can be in business."Bravo's opposite number Kevin Stoute says that he is eager to captain his country for the first time. "I have done a bit of history and when I see the men who have captained Barbados, I feel proud to join that line."He added that his team is very experienced and they have a lot of options. "We have a lot of options with our team, as most of our guys are experienced campaigners and they are ready . We need to play smart cricket to beat Trinidad and Tobago and we confident that if keep get the basics right we will be able to achieve our goal of winnings."
Teams
T&T: Dwayne Bravo (captain), Adrian Barath, Evin Lewis, Lendl Simmons, Darren Bravo, Jason Mohammed, Denesh Ramdin (wicket-keeper), Rayad Emrit, Sunil Narine, Ravi Rampaul, Imran Khan, Yannick Ottley, Shannon Gabriel, Kevon Cooper; Kelvin Williams (coach)
BARBADOS: Kevin Stoute (captain), Sulieman Benn, Tino Best, Rashidi Boucher, Carlos Brathwaite, Kraigg Brathwaite, Jonathan Carter, Shane Dowrich (wicket-keeper), Fidel Edwards, Kirk Edwards, Jason Holder, Ashley Nurse, Dwayne Smith, Kenroy Williams; Hendy Springer (coach).