Bassarath pledges to aid cricketers

President of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB), Azim Bassarath pledged that his administration will continue to provide cricketers with the best opportunity to represent the West Indies team.

On Friday, Trinidad and Tobago opening batsman, Adrian Barath became the youngest West Indian player to score a century on debut. His knock of 104 against Australia at The Gabba in Brisbane shattered the 79-year old record held by legend George Headley. Bassarath explained that players in the national setup will be given everything possible which would aid in promotion to the West Indies team. 

“Once the players are willing to work hard and show that focus to earn a spot on the West Indies team the TTCB will try and provide them with the necessary tools which would help them achieve that goal,” said Bassarath yesterday. 

He noted that the right tools could be made available but it was the duty of players to show the commitment and focus exemplified by Adrian Barath to achieve their goals. 

“We want to improve our players chances of selection on the West Indies team and there will be different programmes put in place to enhance this opportunity and hopefully our players can capitalise,” said Bassarath. 

Former West Indies opening batsman, Gordon Greenidge has already stated that he expects the regional team to be dominated by six or seven players from Trinidad and Tobago due to the quality of cricketers being produced. Greenidge assessed that Trinidad and Tobago are ahead of the other Caribbean territories with regards to development and expects the TTCB to strengthen its position in the West Indies. 

The TTCB has already acted on Greenidge’s assessment by expanding its national selection panel from three members to five. Former national captain, Dudnath Ramkessoon has been reinstated as chairman of selectors with former West Indies players Rangy Nanan and Bernard Julien added to the panel along with Narine Bideshi and Alec Burns. 

“We added more selectors because there was a complaint by the clubs that the national selectors were not visible at Premiership matches. There is a mandate that the selectors will not only be at trial matches but they must go to Premiership and Championship matches,” said Bassarath. 

The TTCB president felt that more talented players would be identified with five selectors and would give every cricketer a fair opportunity to make a fair claim for national selection. He added that the West Indies Cricket Board could add more selectors to the panel if more than three regional matches are played. 

The top cricket administrator congratulated opening batsman Barath who has benefitted from the various developmental programmes of the TTCB and coaching at First Citizens Clarke Road on his success with the West Indies team. 

“Adrian’s performance in Australia thus far is a big boost for Trinidad and Tobago cricket. I hope that he can inspire young cricketers and those in the national setup to strive for a place on the West Indies team,” said Bassarath.