Action expected in North/South Classic

Action is expected to be piping hot, when the 12th edition of the Pizza Hut/QPCC Gerry Gomez Memorial Cricket Cup North/South Classic bowls off at the Queen’s Park Oval from 10 am today. The four-day contest is scheduled to run until Wednesday and it will be the last chance for the players to address the national selectors ahead of the Regional four-day championship which bowls off on January 9. T&T and Barbados clash in the opening round. Defending champions North will be seeking to wrest the Cup for the third consecutive year.

All-rounder Rayad Emrit is at the helm of the defending champion team that includes teenage spin bowler Yannic Cariah. Also included in the bowling attack are spinner Sunil Narine, pacers Richard Kelly, Kevon Cooper, Navin Stewart and Rishaad Harris. While the batting department comprises Lendl Simmons, Darren Bravo and Justin Guillen. South will be led by national captain Daren Ganga, his brother Sherwn, 18-year-old Adrian Barath and Imran Khan. Leading the bowling charge for the Southerners will be Test spinners Dave “Tadpole” Mohammed, Amit Jaggernauth, Magnum Nanan and Sanjiv Gooljar. Emrit said that his team would be going all out to secure a hat-trick of wins as his team was up to the task.

“Obviously it is a big game and it will be very competitive and I am looking forward to it. We are going after a hat-trick of wins and the pressure will be on us to achieve that feat. But the guys have been hard at training for the past three weeks and they are up to the task,” Emrit said. Newly-appointed coach of the South team, Baldath Bodoe said that his side was going to change the result from last year. Bodoe said: “We are confident. We lost last year and we need to change that result. Last year the problem was with the batting but this year it has been bolstered by the inclusion of captain Darren Ganga and opening batsman Adrian Barath. We have a strong bowling attack and it only for us now to go out there and execute our plans.”

Naz Yacoob
Trinidad Guardian