ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – This year’s NAGICO Super50 Tournament opens this Thursday in Trinidad & Tobago.
With 10 regional titles in this form of the game and runners-up in the Tournament last year, T&T Red Force could be considered one of the favourites.
The Red Force – fortified by the return of a number of senior players – will be looking to climb a step higher than last year.
The hosts play alongside the Jamaica Franchise, Leeward Islands Hurricanes and West Indies Under-19s in Group “B”.
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 Red Force Head Coach Gus Logie, the former T&T captain and West Indies batsman.
On his side’s chances:
The expectation is quite high from everybody. The players have been put through their paces over the last few weeks and months, so there are looking forward and anticipating the start of this tournament. Playing at home, we feel we have an extra advantage, but there are also high expectations and more pressure playing in front of your home crowd to manage. The addition of players like Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Darren Bravo, Ravi Rampaul and Sunil Narine gives us an edge, and we are looking to capitalise on this.
On areas for improvement from last year:
We have a number of skillful individual players, but we have put things together in a team environment with everyone contributing consistently for the team to have success. Consistency in the batting, consistency in the bowling and being dynamic in the field are the things that we are looking to do. If we can put all three aspects of our game together, I have no doubt the outcome will take care of itself.
On the confidence of the team following inconsistent performances at the end of last year:
I don’t think we have suffered too much from the setbacks we endured in the WICB Professional Cricket League Regional 4-Day Tournament. Our players seem more comfortable in the shorter versions of the game. We seem to think it is more suited to us, so they are looking forward to this NS50. I have no doubt that a positive mindset has already taken root and they are looking forward to it.
On preparations:
They have been going well once we do have it. We have been interrupted by rain and we have had to do some indoor sessions. The players’ fitness has been where I think they want it to be. We have done a lot of technical work and the players’ minds are adjusted to this format, plus the addition of the senior players make us a lot more confident group going forward.
On players regaining focus following the holiday break:
Surprisingly, it has not been that difficult to get the players to focus. We had the odd break during the holidays. We pretty much trained all the way through, including the contracted 4-Day players that failed to make the side. The players have shown the commitment necessary. They have been coming out and working hard.
On players expected to make an impact:
First, one of the players that we expected to make a big impact was Nicholas Pooran, but he got injured a few days ago in a vehicular crash which was a setback for us and his explosive batting will be missed. In comes young Stephen Katwaroo and we expect a lot from him. He is very competent behind the stumps. Evin Lewis is another player that we expect to have a breakthrough, along with Jeremy Solozano and Nicholas Sookdeosingh. We have an all-round team that can present a challenge to anyone on the day once we perform as we expect.
On definition for success other than winning:
We want to see improvement in all the areas of our game. We want to see the basics being applied. We have talked about aggressive cricket. We have talked about sensible cricket. We have talked about thoughtful cricket. These are some of the things we want to see apart from the individual brilliance. We want to see an improvement in our all-round cricket. People playing with intensity, looking as though they know what needs to be done. If we can see these things being exhibited, the results will take care of themselves. We want to see the right processes being applied.