PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – Managers of both Trinidad & Tobago and England Lions expressed respect to the strength of the other side on the eve of their top-of-the-table, third round match in the WICB Regional first-class championship, starting today at Queen’s Park Oval. Both sides enter the contest with 18 points, but the Lions are the actual ladder leaders by virtue of the tie-breaker rules for the competition.
T&T had to settle for first-innings points from a draw with Barbados in their opening match on home soil at Guaracara Park before landing a hard-fought, two-wicket victory over Combined Campuses & Colleges in their second home match at the UWI Sports & Physical Education Complex.
T&T manager Omar Khan admitted that taming the Lions could be quite a handful for his side.
“This English team is close to Test strength,” he said. “They have been kept together as a result of the English structure, and hence they play as a unit.
“Looking at the composition of their team, there are a number of players there who have played at the highest level, and this will count, when they come down to play first-class cricket.
“We have to come with a top-level plan to counter the English threat, but we are silently confident going into the clash.”
The Lions started the tournament with a comprehensive innings and 120-run victory over Leeward Islands at Warner Park in St Kitts, and then gained first-innings points from Barbados in their drawn second match at Kensington Oval in Barbados.
Their manager Mick Newell conceded that T&T posed a big threat to his team’s good form.
“It’s a huge challenge playing T&T here, and we’re looking forward to it,” he said.
“T&T have shown that they are a quality side, and we will have to be at the top of our game to have the better of them at home.”
T&T have moved to fortify their line-up with Sherwin Ganga, brother national captain Daren Ganga, likely to play his first game of the season.
He is expected to come into the final 11 to replace Aneil Kanhai, who was dropped following his failure in his substantive role in the side with the bat, if not the ball.
The younger Ganga will be the perfect fit, since he too, is a capable batsman and steady off-spin bowler like Kanhai.
Khan hopes that Ganga can add a little more stability to the batting, which has been inconsistent, despite T&T’s position in the Championship.
“We have already spoken to (the batsmen) about getting starts and carrying on,” he said.
“They have been told in no uncertain terms that they need to improve or they will be replaced.”
Newell hopes the pitch will have more life than the surfaces in Basseterre and Bridgetown, so that his side’s bowlers can exploit them.
“We’ve had two pretty flat pitches, so far so I’m hoping this pitch will have a bit of pace, a bit of bounce in it and a bit of carry,” he said.
“I think that’ll make for a more interesting game. I know both teams will be playing a lot of spinners, so it should be interesting.”