Central Sports (132) broke a 27-year drought on Sunday, winning the T&T Cricket Board (TTCB) Premiership Division I by seven points ahead of Bess Motors Marchin Patriots (125).
The Felicity team started the final round of the competition with a 22-point lead over the second-placed Patriots team, 121 to 99, and won despite losing first innings points away to Powergen at Syne Village in Penal.
With only 28 points available in a game (inclusive of bonus points), Central Sports needed only seven points to seal the silverware, should Marchin achieved full points at home to Victoria.
When the dust cleared and the final ball bowled on Sunday, Marchin got 26 points from its win while Central Sports earned 11 from the draw with Patriots.
President of the club, Richard Ramkissoon, put it down to hard work and preparations for the title-winning campaign.
“The last time we won was in 1997, so this Premier League title is really difficult (to win) and is a very prestigious title to win,” Ramkissoon said.
The experienced cricket administrator added: “It means a lot to the entire club. We have been doing a lot of preparation for this over the season, putting together a team that we believe will compete effectively to lift this trophy. After we lost to Marchin in the first game, there was a little step back, we got together and we recalibrated.”
Ramkissoon was in praise of the captain, former West Indies opener Lendl Simmons, who led the team from the front.
“I must talk about leadership, Lendl Simmons coming into Central Sports,” Ramkissoon asserted. “He played for us before but he wasn’t the leader. This year, he decided that he wanted to play all versions of the game and he was given the leadership. When you see the experience and the motivating individual of Simmons being around these younger guys, I mean that leadership quality and they listen to him, they follow him, he is a very strong leader and I think that was a big, big, big factor in our success so far.”
Ramkissoon heaped further praises on his team, for adapting well to the format.
“Central Sports is a very strong white-ball cricket team so we know that there will be a challenge to capture the red-ball competition which is the league. But so said so done. We buckled down, the guys buckled down, they put their heads down and they really worked very hard.”
Having copped the League title, he is expecting to complete the “Triple Crown” with the white-ball formats (50-Over and T20) of the game.
However, Marchin Patriots president Adrian Ali still hopes for the title, even if it comes through the courts.
Clarke Road protested Central Sports and while the TTCB had given the new champions permission to register a ‘fifth’ overseas player (one more than the stipulated four), Clarke Road president Baldath Mahabir says they intend to take it further.
While Marchin is awaiting the outcome of that development, president Ali did acknowledge that the draw against Preysal in the second round was crucial but they have done well in their first run in the top flight.
“You could say that we would have achieved some level of success. It’s a bit unfortunate that we couldn’t go all the way,” Ali admitted. “But I’m so grateful. Second place, first time around. And definitely, there is room for improvement. We can learn from here.”
The teams will now focus on the Sunday League 50-Over competition that begins on April 6.
Premiership I Points Table
Team - Total
Central Sports - 132
Bess Motors Marchin Patriots - 125
QPCC - 111
Powergen - 109
Clarke Road - 99
Victoria - 91
Preysal - 82
Merryboys - 64
