JOHN’S, Antigua – This year’s NAGICO Super50 Tournament opens this coming Thursday in Trinidad & Tobago.
Windward Islands Volcanoes have stepped up their competitiveness in regional competitions over the last decade, shaking off the perennial Cinderella tag that had become their calling card.
The Volcanoes recognise that they are strong in bowling, but batting depth will be critical for them to succeed in this year’s tournament.
The sub-regional side play alongside the Combined Campuses & Colleges, Guyana Jaguars and reigning champions Barbados Pride in Group “A”.
The first stage of the Tournament will be the group stage comprising a series of non-elimination matches in each group – each team will play every other team in its group – with two matches being contested daily at either the Queen’s Park Oval, the T&T Cricket Board’s National Cricket Centre in the central Trinidad community of Couva, or Shaw Park in Scarborough, the capital of Trinidad’s sister island Tobago.
Following the group stage, the top two teams in each group will progress to the semi-finals at the Oval, where the group winners play the runners-up from the opposite group in a one-off match for a place in the Grand Final on Sunday, January 25 at the same venue.
Today, WICB Media presents key quotes from Volcanoes Head Coach Ian Allen, a former West Indies fast bowler.
On his side’s chances:
I think we have a good chance. We won it only two years ago, but we did not do too well last year and the players are conscious of it. They are working hard to improve upon that performance and get close to the level of confidence that will allow them to execute.
On the areas that would need to improve:
I think mostly our batting, so that we are always taking the pressure off the bowlers. We are presently training in Dominica and have played a number of practice matches, so the players would be aware of their roles, and it’s about them understanding their roles and executing. Once we can achieve the targets we want with our batting, over the years our bowling unit has done well for us, and so we will have every chance of winning matches.
On preparations:
Things have been going well so far. At the start of the training camp in Dominica, we had a bit of a challenge with the weather, but things have improved, so we are trying to make the best use of the conditions and we are trying to make sure that the players reach the level of confidence to be competitive from our very first game against Guyana. The camp has been good and has given us a chance to get together and do a lot of team bonding, as well as for everyone to understand their roles.
On players regaining focus following the holiday break:
It always difficult returning from a break, but each player was given a specific programme following our last Regional 4-Day game before the holidays, so they were all supervised and they were reminded to take some responsibility for doing some work on their own. It’s something into which the players now have to buy in due to the new professional structure that is being developed and what I have seen from the camp has been a revelation of what was done. This is a plus, so all we have to do now is a bit of fine tuning and make sure that we put plans in place that will work for us to be successful in the tournament.
On players expected to make an impact:
Keddy Lesporis is one of them and Sunil Ambris. We are expecting that the bulk of our runs will come from the two of them along with the likes of Devon Smith, Miles Bascombe, Craig Emmanuel, Liam Sebastien and lower-order hitters like Shane Shillingford, Mervin Matthew and Delorn Johnson.
On definition of success other than winning:
I would like to see the development of more of our players in this version of the game. Over the years, we have been competitive, but I would like for the players to see this tournament as an opportunity and try to improve in every facet of their game, so that their performances can stand up alongside those of other Caribbean players.
SQUAD
Liam Sebastien (Captain)
Sunil Ambris
Miles Bascombe
Alston Bobb
Johnson Charles
Craig Emmanuel
Andre Fletcher
Tarryck Gabriel
Delorn Johnson
Keddy Lesporis
Mervin Matthew
Kenroy Peters
Shane Shillingford
Devon Smith
Team management unit
Ian Allen (Head Coach)
Lockhart Sebatien (Manager)
Denis Byan (Physiotherapist/Trainer)
SCHEDULE OF MATCHES
GROUP “A” – Barbados Pride, Combined Campuses & Colleges, Guyana Jaguars, Windward Islands Volcanoes
GROUP “B” – Jamaica Franchise, Leeward Islands Hurricanes, Trinidad & Tobago Red Force, West Indies Under-19s
Thursday, January 15
Zone “A”
Pride vs CCC – National Cricket Centre (9 a.m. start)
Volcanoes vs Jaguars – Queen’s Park Oval (1:30 p.m. start)
Friday, January 16
Zone “B”
Red Force vs Windies Under-19s – Shaw Park (9 a.m. start)
Jamaica Franchise vs Hurricanes – Queen’s Park Oval (1:30 p.m. start)
Saturday, January 17
Zone “A”
Volcanoes vs CCC –National Cricket Centre (9 a.m. start)
Jaguars vs Pride – Queen’s Park Oval (1:30 p.m. start)
Sunday, January 18
Zone “B”
Hurricanes vs Windies Under-19s – National Cricket Centre (9 a.m. start)
Red Force vs Jamaica Franchise – Queen’s Park Oval (1:30 p.m. start)
Monday, January 19
Zone “A”
Volcanoes vs Pride – Shaw Park (9 a.m. start)
Jaguars vs CCC – Queen’s Park Oval (1:30 p.m. start)
Tuesday, January 20
Zone “B”
Jamaica Franchise vs Windies Under-19s – National Cricket Centre (9 a.m. start)
Red Force vs Hurricanes – Queen’s Park Oval (1:30 p.m. start)
Thursday, January 22
1st semi-final
Winner Zone A vs Runner-up Zone B – Queen’s Park Oval (1:30 p.m. start)
Friday, January 23
2nd semi-final
Winner Zone B vs Runner-up Zone A – Queen’s Park Oval (1:30 p.m. start)
Sunday, January 25
Grand Final
Winner Semi-final 1 vs Winner Semi-final 2 – Queen’s Park Oval (1:30 p.m. start)
Monday, January 26
Reserve day
