Trinidad and Tobago cricketers will have one last chance to impress the Red Force selectors next week as the team prepares for the return of regional four-day cricket next month.
The players have been building towards the resumption of regional first-class cricket and coach David Furlonge is pleased with the team’s progress so far despite a host of challenges. Among the challenges was a bout of Covid-19 in the camp after the most recent test match last month.
All those who would have contracted the virus have recovered and returned to training, but the incident has forced the Red Force to tighten Covid-19 protocols and precautions, especially with the four-day tournament ending next month.
“After the practice game at the Oval we had a couple of cases but we self-quarantined and those who had Covid have been given a clean bill of health and are back in practice and we’re back in training,” Furlonge revealed.
“We have improved our Covid-19 protocol now. One of the protocols we have is that once you have Covid we ask you to stay away for 21 days and we ask that after you have any symptoms you see a doctor and before you can go back to training you have to have a negative test. even if it could just be the common cold,” the coach continued.
“If you are positive, you must have two negative tests before you can return to practice. It’s one thing where we can pick the team today, and the day before we leave, someone gets Covid, then we’ll have to change the team and do contact tracing. So we have to tighten our players,” he added.
Despite the challenges, Furlonge said the players remained upbeat and enthusiastic and said there is strong competition among the players. “The boys have been enthusiastic and it’s competitive. We have a few spots open,” Furlonge noted.
He said fast bowler Jayden Seales, who would have been in the Red Force’s traveling squad, was selected for the West Indies and may not be available while Darren Bravo, who captained the team last season , is also on duty in the West Indies and may miss out. the first half of the season.
“So there are places opening up and the young guys are looking to challenge for those places,” Furlonge noted.
“We have a final training session on Monday as we prepare for a final test game starting on Wednesday, after which the squad will be selected and then we have the Red Force squad that ranks the ‘best of the rest’ ‘ as a kind of preparation. for the team”, he continued.
Asked about the team captain, Furlonge said: “It’s still up in the air. We have to discuss it and see who we come up with. It could be an interim captain because the last two rounds will be played in May when Bravo and the other players will be back here.”
Giving an update on the fitness of the players in training, the Red Force coach said around 75 percent of them would have passed the fitness test. “It comes in different parts. Now we have one or two players who still have to pass the cardio or yo-yo test. We would do another test on January 17 to make sure everyone is at the level we want them to be, but so far the fitness, despite the disruption, has been good,” Furlonge reported.
“The senior boys are quite capable like Jason Mohammed, Imran Khan, Denesh Ramdin and Lendl Simmons. All passed the yo-yo test on November 3rd and all met the required standard of 40. All are basically fit. Yes, we’ve had some harassment and unfortunately yes, we’ve had some Covid cases, but we’re over that now and we’re moving forward,” he concluded.
