Young batsman Yannic Carriah is out for the third round WICB Professional Cricket League (PCL) against Jamaica, starting at the Queen’s Park Oval on Friday. Skipper Rayad Emrit revealed yesterday that the left hander would not recover from a fractured toe in time to take his place in the squad. Carriah was struck during the last round win against the Leewards at Warner Park, St Kitts.
Chairman of the national selection panel Alec Burns said the selectors will meet today to finalise the team. In addition to Carriah, Denesh Ramdin is off on West Indies duties and will take no part. Burns hinted that Steven Katwaroo will be coming in, although Nicolas Pooran who is in the squad kept wicket in the last game.
The Red Force is now second in the standings on 20 points, 14 behind leaders Guyana. T&T came from behind to secure a six-wicket victory over the Leewards in their last game. After bundling out the home team for 202, the Red Force fell for 130. Allrounder Imran Khan then grabbed 6/13 to end with ten wickets in the match, to rout the Leewards for 130 in their second essay. T&T won by six wickets with Yannik Ottley hitting an unbeaten 76. Emrit said he had to remind the young players in the Leewards game that they were playing at a tough level. “After making 130 runs in our first innings, I told them that we were not playing under-19 cricket. They had to step up and bring it to the level they were playing. I was glad to see the improvement and this led us to victory.”
Emrit said he was not surprised by Ottley’s maturity: “I know his ability and I applaud him.” Emrit said T&T needs to keep improving. “This is the only way we would be able to challenge for the title. We won against the Leewards and this would give us confidence in the other matches, especially against Jamaica on Friday. We got the better of the Jamaicans earlier this year when we played them at home and we are looking for a repeat.”
