Teamwork key to U17 victory

COACH of the Trinidad and Tobago Under-17 cricket team, Tarandath Sammy has said that team work and mental strength were the key elements which enabled his team to come out victorious at the Sir Garfield Sobers School Boys Under-19 tournament in Barbados in August.

The national Under-17 team played unbeaten in Barbados overcoming their older and much more experienced opposition. Trinidad and Tobago were placed in the “Combined Schools” group which contained past winners Dominica Schools as well as the Bermuda Under-19 team which recently qualified for the ICC Under 19 Cricket World Cup.

Also in the group were Antigua, Queen’s Park of TT, Barbados Combined League, Xenon Cricket Academy and Curacao Combined.

The national Under-17 team finished top of their group and defeated defending champions Combermere High School in the final.

“We went across to Barbados well-prepared both mentally and physically as a team. The guys stuck to the team mantra of playing strong cricket as a team and all things would fall into place,” said Sammy.

He said the match against Bermuda was a testing encounter for his young charges as it was the only time the team struggled.

“Bermuda had Malachi Jones in their team and he represented the country at the 2007 Cricket World Cup. He rattled the guys a bit with his medium pace and picked up some quick wickets but the team eventually settled down and completed an important victory,” said Sammy.

The coach revealed that in order to get the guys to maintain their focus and motivation he allowed them to relax when they had time off.

“On the free days the team was allowed to wind down and would regroup again before matches. In the 19 days at the tournament we had three practice sessions where the team worked on the weakest areas which were running between the wicket, target bowling, fielding drills and general batting practice for the batters.

“In the past I have seen players been over killed with practice and become mentally tired. The problem with mental fatigue is that there are no visible signs until it is too late.

“Therefore I decided to take it one match at a time with the guys to ensure that they were at their best for each match,” said Sammy.

Trinidad and Tobago were flawless in their cricket with the team able to execute each aspect of the game to perfection.

Sammy revealed that all-rounder Yannic Cariah and vice-captain Marc Panchu played a major role for the national Uunder-17 team and they has bright futures ahead of them.

“Yannic Cariah is mentally tough and immensely talented. His major asset is that he is a team player and he never thought at any point in time, believe he could do everything on his own.

“Marc played a pivotal role in the final as an opening batsman where he scored 55 and returned with the ball to take four for 33,” said Sammy.

Currently the members of the national Under-17 team are engaged in the High Performance Centres in their various zones.

The team is scheduled to take part in Tri Nations tournament which will be place in Trinidad during October which will feature Guyana and the Windward Islands.

The Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) under president, Deryck Murray has been lobbying for a regional Under-17 tournament to bridge the gap between the Under-15 and Uunder-19 age group and has developed the Tri Nation tournament for the interim period.

Sammy revealed that the team would soon return to training for the tournament and would be looking to continue their successful run. As coach of the national Under-17 team Sammy has been unbeaten thus far with guiding the team to tournament victories in Antigua in 2006 and Barbados earlier this year.

T&T Newsday