Powergen duo of Cephas Cooper and Navin Bidaisee have been brought into the T&T Red Force for the Cricket West Indies Championships sixth round match against the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) at the Sir Frank Worrell Field, University of the West Indies Sports and Physical Education Centre in St Augustine starting 10 o’clock Wednesday morning.
Cooper, who scored 51 and 54 against Merryboys and Queen’s Park Cricket Club (QPCC), respectively, over the weekend in the T&T Premier Division I, was initially dropped to make way for Jyd Goolie who recovered from injury but is now back in the team for the injured Tion Webster, who was injured during the Dream XI T10 Blast in Shaw Park, Scarborough last week.
The 24-year-old Bidaisee who played four List A matches for CCC in 2022, replaces legspinner Yannic Cariah who pulled out of the team for personal reasons. Bidaisee scored 74 twice against Merryboys and Queen’s Park on the weekend and is bringing a measure of form into the squad.
The Red Force currently sits sixth on the eight-team table with 51 points and head coach David Furlonge admits the mood in the camp is upbeat despite the forced changes to the team.
“It (change) is affecting us because, as I said, it (change) happened over the weekend. The team was able to get together and we practiced together. The only one who didn’t practice yesterday (Monday) was Navin Bidaisee because he just came into the team today (Tuesday),” said Furlonge.
Despite not being in a position to win the tournament the Red Force are 21.6 points behind second-placed Windward Islands Volcanoes who are on 71.6 points, but still have a lot to play for.
“If we win the last two games, possibly we can come to the first three or two. But whatever position we finish on, we will look to finish the tournament on a high and win our last two games,” said Furlonge, who added that players also have personal goals to play for, as they aim to finish on a high.
“They (Red Force players) have a certain amount of runs to score in the next couple of innings. They have to get the average up. We have part-time goals, we have full-time goals and we have team goals that we want to achieve by the end of the next two games.”
All matches start at 10 am, except the clash at Sabina Park, Jamaica. The Jamaicans and Guyana match bowls off at 11 am (TT Time).
T&T Red Force 14-man squad
Joshua Da Silva (captain), Bryan Charles (vice-captain), Khary Pierre, Vikash Mohan, Kjorn Ottley, Amir Jangoo, Jason Mohammed, Cephas Cooper, Anderson Phillip, Shannon Gabriel, Terrance Hinds, Jyd Goolie and Navin BidaiseeI Championship Fixtures:
At UWI St Augustine, Trinidad
T&T Red Force vs Combined Colleges and Campuses
At Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad
Barbados Pride vs Leeward Islands Hurricanes
At Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua
West Indies Academy vs Windward Islands Volcanoes
At Sabina Park, Jamaica
Jamaica Scorpion vs Guyana Harpy Eagles