SPORTS
Joel Bailey
DAVID FURLONGE, coach of the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force, has urged his players not to take Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) lightly when the two teams go out in their Zone A Cup opener CG United Super50, in Brian Lara. Cricket Academy, Tarouba on Mondays from 2:00 p.m.
The Red Force won the last Super50 Cup, which was held in Antigua last year.
This year, the tournament will have eight teams, divided into two zones – Trinidad and Antigua.
Zone A includes the Red Force, CCC, Windward Islands Volcanoes and Guyana Harpy Eagles, while Zone B will include the Leeward Islands Hurricanes, West Indies Academy, Jamaica Scorpions and the Pride of Barbados.
In an interview on Friday, Furlonge said the Red Force’s coaching staff have impressed upon the players to guard against complacency.
“We had that discussion already,” he said. “The boys are professionals but we still had the discussion, and just to jog their memory that in 2018, a similar senior team (Red Force) with (Kieron) Pollard, (Sunil) Narine and Lendl Simmons lost in the semi-finals from the KKK.”
Furlonge added, “The boys are taking each team at a time and playing professionally, as they would any other top team.”
Nicholas Pooran, the much-maligned West Indies T20 International captain, will captain the Red Force during the Super50 Cup, with the experienced Narine as his deputy.
Pooran and several WI T20 International players returned home this week following the regional team’s early exit from the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia. Other Red Force players who returned home from Australia were left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein, all-rounder Yannic Cariah and opening batsman Evin Lewis.
On the mood in the camp, especially with the returning WI T20 players in the squad, Furlonge noted, “Very good. They have known each other for years and have played with each other. Everyone is happy with each other and happy.”
The WI Test team will engage in a two-Test series in Australia at the end of November and the players (who will compete in the Super50) are expected to head Down Under on November 8.
Furlonge said, “We have an idea of the players who have been called up by (Cricket West Indies), so we have an idea of who will leave and who will come into the team.”
Trinidad is under an adverse weather alert, but the Red Force was able to put in a full training session on Friday.
“We’ve been able to spend some time in between,” Furlonge said. “Despite the orange alert, we were able to do a full three-hour session which we were grateful for because, before that, we couldn’t have much time outside. It was good to have a full session where everyone got an opportunity to field, bat and bowl.”
The Red Force squad is expected to have its final training session, weather permitting, on Saturday at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy.
