PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – David Williams said he expected Trinidad & Tobago to use the confidence and momentum from winning the Caribbean Twenty20 Tournament last month to fuel further success in the Regional 4-Day and Super50 Tournaments.
The T&T coach said success typically bred success and felt his side had resourceful players to make an assault on both titles this season.
T&T clinched the CT20 for the third straight year, following a lop-sided, nine-wicket victory over Guyana in the Final two weeks ago at the Beausejour Cricket Ground in St. Lucia.
"Once you are winning tournaments, this always breeds confidence," said Williams.
"The players we have are experienced enough to make the transition and know what’s required to win in the longer versions of the game, so we are hoping to win both tournaments."
For all the success they have had in the shortest version of the game, T&T has not always transferred this success into the 4-Day and RS50.
But Williams said it is now important for his side to deliver, after promising much over recent seasons and looks forward to the challenge of the new season.
"This is very important for us and our development," he said. "Most of time when we play the regional season, our top players are away with the West Indies team and we have to keep chopping and changing, and bringing in rookie players to fill positions, so we will always be faced with this sort of problem once we continue to produce players.
"We have given a number of young players the opportunity over time to develop, and when they are given the opportunity, we want to see them grab it with both hands. We want to win both tournaments, but we have prepared really well and we want to give a good showing of ourselves."
Preparation has included three trial matches which Williams praised for their competitiveness and he expected robust competition for places in the national squad among the players.
"The weather held and we have had three good trial matches," he said. "The batsmen have been scoring heavily and the bowlers have been getting wickets.
"I think we are heading in the right direction and I am satisfied with the way preparations have unfolded so far."
He added: "The competition for places has been great and this should help to make our team strong.
"We have some players that have performed very, very well in the trials and there are a few senior players around, and we expect some of our international stars to be available during the season, so it will be a huge battle for places in the side and we are hoping to put our best team on the park."
Williams is not daunted by the challenge that faces all the teams of a new format for the season.
The new format sees the teams switching between the 4-Day and the 50-over format, a throwback to previous years of the premier regional competitions.
"We will have to make a minor adjustment to the new format," he said. "I think we have enough experienced players in our set-up to make the transition that will be necessary, so we do not see it being a major problem."