T&T’s successful junior cricketers were urged to strive for the 2023 Cricket World Cup upon returning from Antigua on Sunday night. A small but vibrant group, mostly including parents, grandparents and supporters gathered at the Piarco International Airport to welcome home the cricketers, who the day before, won the Cricket West Indies (CWI) Regional Under-15 Championship.
“We went in as the underdogs from our record the previous year, and we came out victorious,” manager Kelvin Mohammed exclaimed. Having finished second to last in the 2018 tournament with 12.4 points, T&T won the title with 29.2 points this time around, while Guyana had 29.1 points. The local boys also scored double the runs they had from last year (1200-plus), got the most disciplined team in the tournament, and of the five matches played, had four man-of-the-match awards.
Arjoon Ramlal, the first vice-president of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) was at the airport to welcome home the players. While congratulating them on a successful tournament, he urged them to strive to play in cricket’s biggest showpiece event.
“This victory comes at a time when we have a big international cricket event taking place in England, starting at the end of next month and going to July 15th - the World Cup - and all players want to get into the World Cup. The next World Cup will be four years from now, and some of you will be 18 and 19, and we want some of you to start putting your hands up for the 2023 World Cup.” Ramlal said.
The TTCB official went further in explaining to the young cricketers that this is only the start of something special in their cricket careers, and they must now work harder to progress through the levels.
He said, “Remember the victory is just the bonus at this age. This is development and what this whole programme is about is looking at you four to five years from now where your cricket will be and what type of cricketer you will be, so every year you play, look to improve on the previous performance.”
Brian Brown, who coached the team and hails from Tobago, said, “The boys played hard. We have two watchwords that we live by, focus and intensity. At this age, they can sway so easily so it was important that we try to maintain our focus, and try to play competitive cricket at all times.”
The captain, Andrew Rambaran, said, “It was not an easy tournament but all the guys put out the hard work in training.”
The parents were also praised for their support throughout the tournament and in the build-up to it. Mohammed ended by saying, “Individuals win a game, but a team wins a tournament.”