President of the T&T Cricket Board (TTCB), Azim Bassarath is calling on the national senior cricketers for a great combined effort, as they open their challenge in the Regional Four-day tournament tomorrow against the Windward Islands at the Queen's Park Oval.
Having sat out the first round on a bye, T&T will be looking to make a good start against the Windwards who are on a high after defeating Barbados in their first round match in St Kitts on the weekend.
T&T will be missing a number of their star players who are either on West Indies duty or injured. Allrounder Rayad Emrit will lead the T&T team due to the absence of regular captain Denesh Ramdin who is playing against England.
Also missing is Dwayne Bravo, Sunil Narine, Ravi Rampaul and Lendl Simmons. Keiron Pollard is still injured and was not considered for selection. The team has been strengthened by the return of Darren Bravo, who was not selected on the West Indies team that is currently playing England.
Bassarath said he expects the team to do well despite the fact that a number of top players are missing. "I am expecting the guys to do well despite the fact that the senior players are not there. We have always had good bench strength and this is expected to come through for us. A good start is essential and we are hoping that the boys give a good showing against a Windwards team that is very confident after their first round loss. Also this Windwards team has always given us trouble and we need to be mindful of that, so the guys have to dig deep.
"It is essential is for the guys to bind together and exhibit a great team effort. Team unity has always been our strength and I am confident you would see that this weekend."
Bassarath, who is also chairman of the regional matches committee, said all arrangements are in place for the match and fans can expect no hassles at the venue.
T&T Team: Rayad Emrit � Captain, Evin Lewis, Adrian Barath, Darren Bravo, Jason Mohammed, Jonathan Augustus, Steven Katwaroo, Imran Khan, Marlon Richards, Akeil Hosein, Shannon Gabriel, Kavesh Kantasingh and Yannic Cariah. Manager � Manohar Ramsaran, Coach � Kelvin Williams.