THE 1891–92 SEASON saw the first Inter-Colonial Tournament in the West Indies take place in Barbados involving Barbados, British Guiana and Trinidad. Matches took place at the Wanderers Ground, Bay Pasture in Bridgetown between September 1 and 10, 1891.Barbados beat British Guiana by 4 wickets, British Guiana beat Trinidad by 151 runs and Barbados beat Trinidad by an innings and 93 runs, with the final being contested between Barbados and British Guiana, which the Bajans won by an innings and 55 runs.
During this tournament a suggestion was made by Hon. Aucher Warner that there should be a regular series of matches involving the three colonies to be played alternately at each colony.
By the time of the next tournament in 1893 a cup had been subscribed for but British Guiana were unable to take part, Barbados being winners again, with the 1893 match being regarded as the first proper tournament because of the trophy being awarded.
To date, Barbados have played T&T 28 times, winning 17 of those contests including their enthralling first round victory in this year’s West Indies Cricket Board NAGICO Super50 tournament at the Queen’s Park Oval two weeks ago.
Today from 14.00hrs, both sides will have a go at it again, this time in the final of the same tournament, following their respective semifinal victories over a hapless-looking Jamaica and a flu-stricken Malta Supreme Guyana last Wednesday and Thursday, which can be called a repeat of the first round encounter.
While it is not appropriate to say, T&T under the astute captaincy of West Indies ODI skipper and energetic all-rounder Dwayne Bravo should be looking to avenge the first round loss suffered at the hands of their nemesis and lift the Clive Lloyd trophy, when the dust is settled.
Two important individuals which will need to be looked at closely for today’s contest will be the misery of Sunil Narine against a team who have shown their susceptibility to spin bowling and the fiery pace of Fidel Edwards, Jason Holder and a still-to-feature Tino Best against the home team.
In their first round matchup, Barbados’ Jonathan Carter struck the first ton at the venue by a non-national, a patient 109 which, along with Dwayne Smith’s pugnacious 83, piloted Barbados to 269 for 8 from their 50 overs, with Shane Dowrich contributing 35.
Sulieman Benn then took 4 for 39 and Holder 3 for 29 as T&T were bowled out for 243, of which Denesh Ramdin stroked an unbeaten 40, while Darren Bravo, Lendl Simmons and Jason Mohammed contributed 40, 37 and 32 respectively.
However, the Trinis played that contest without Narine their ace spinner, who showed how important his presence can be in any team, returning combined figures of 26-7-46-6 in his three matches, including his Man-of-the-Match 4 for 19 against Leeward Islands.
Definitely on a track that has been offering lots of assistance to the slower bowlers, he will be a handful against the Barbadian batsmen, who can struggle to get the ball away, if Smith is disposed of early by Ravi Rampaul, Dwayne Bravo or Rayad Emrit.
Carter will definitely look to get a big score under his belt, so too will be the skipper Kevin Stoute and Kenroy Williams, while a fit Rashidi Boucher will also lend support along with Dowrich, Carlos Brathwaite, Ashley Nurse and Benn.
Holder and Edwards has been spot on with the new ball for the team from the Land of the Flying Fish, while Stoute has added support with his medium pace along with Carlos Brathwaite, even as Benn and Nurse complete the bowling attack with their spin variations.
On the other hand, T&T have gotten starts from Lendl Simmons, Evin Lewis and Adrian Barath, when used as openers, but they failed to build on them while Darren and Dwayne Bravo, Ramdin, Kevon Cooper and Rayad Emrit can add support when needed.
Ravi Rampaul has been improving leaps and bounds with the new ball with support from Dwayne Bravo and Cooper, leaving Narine, Mohammed and at times Emrit and Imran Khan (who can also contribute with the bat), with little to do in dismissing the opposition.
With such accolades, today’s encounter, which will be played under the supervision of Lennox Abraham and Nigel Duguid, with Patrick Gustard and Leslie Reifer performing the duties of Fourth and Television Officials respectively, will certainly be a humdinger at the Oval.
Full squads Trinidad and Tobago: Dwayne Bravo (captain), Adrian Barath, Evin Lewis, Lendl Simmons, Darren Bravo, Jason Mohammed, Denesh Ramdin (wicketkeeper), Rayad Emrit, Sunil Narine, Ravi Rampaul, Imran Khan, Yannick Ottley, Shannon Gabriel, Kevon Cooper; Kelvin Williams (coach)
Barbados: Kevin Stoute (captain), Suleiman Benn, Tino Best, Rashidi Boucher, Carlos Brathwaite, Kraigg Brathwaite, Jonathan Carter, Shane Dowrich (wicketkeeper), Fidel Edwards, Jason Holder, Ashley Nurse, Dwayne Smith, Kenroy Williams; Hendy Springer (coach)
Written By Calvin Roberts in Trinidad and Tobago
Compliments of Carib Beer, Regal Stationery, Wartsila, Romaine Car Wash and GT&T