Captain of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Team, Mr. Darren Ganga on Thursday April 2 presented a Players Memorabilia Bat to Acting Governor the Honourable Stanley Reid on behalf of his team and the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board.

Presentation by Mr. Ganga to Acting Governor Mr. Stanley Reid

The bat was signed by all the players on the visiting team who were in Anguilla over last weekend for a match against the Leeward Islands as part of the West Indies Cricket Board Regional Tournament.

Mr. Ganga said the gift was to show appreciation to the Governor for his kind gesture in welcoming them to the island and inviting them to Government House.

In response, Mr. Reid said the bat was much appreciated and was something that he can place at the office for visitors to see. He noted that it was a token of the whole team as it was autographed by each player.

Darren Ganga has been playing first class cricket since 1997 and made his international debut for West Indies a year later. He noted that his Trinidad and Tobago team was young and attributed their fourth position in the tournament to the weather which had the better of them at the earlier stages.

Ganga said he looked forward to his two last games to elevate themselves in the standings and remembered their previous outing against Leeward Islands in which they gained first innings points in a rain affected match.

Captain Ganga said many of the regular players of his side were called up for West Indies duty so they were using this season to “blood” the young players to make sure that the next generation of his country’s cricketers was well served and had the experience of playing regional cricket.

Darren himself admits that although he has had a solid season it was nothing spectacular. He is within the top 10 batters of the tournament. He said he was a little disappointed that he wasn’t able to convert any of his big scores into hundreds and it was one of his major goals. He forecasted that he will let his bat do the talking and leave it up to the selectors to determine if he warrants a place on the West Indies Team again.

His outlook for the game against the Leeward Islands was to set it up nicely, to take control and play in the right spirits so that Trinidad and Tobago and all the supporters of the team would be proud of the efforts of all the guys.

Meanwhile, Manager of the Trinidad and Tobago Team Mr. Collin Borde echoed some of Ganga’s forecasts for last weekend’s match. He said he expected the game to be competitive at one of the Leeward Islands’ home grounds and they brought along young, new players as about five of their regulars are with the West Indies One Day Team and one or two were injured. He noted that it gave them an opportunity to blood new players towards the end of the season because they did not have a hope of winning the tournament.

Mr. Borde who has been managing his team since last year march, said the youngsters needed to be given a chance because they were the future of Trinidad and Tobago and hopefully West Indies cricket. He said the team, however, will be very competitive and came to Anguilla with the expressed intention of winning outright and then going to Barbados to do the same against Combined Colleges.

On Anguilla, Borde said this is his first time here and it is “absolutely beautiful.” He said Shoal Bay was “absolutely gorgeous; our beaches pale in comparison to Anguilla. It is really fantastic. It is a small island but well kept. It is noticeable that the roads are quite good.The place is very clean and people take a lot of pride in the country.” He added that they met many Trinidadians living here who came over to welcome the team and said the support was always good for the players.

Borde said the Anguillian hospitality had been great and he hoped it continued through the weekend even though they intended to beat Leeward Islands.

Borde’s forecast was correct. Trinidad and Tobago eventually won the four day match outright with a comprehensive 9 wicket victory. Ganga just missed the coveted 100 by four runs in his first innings. He was 96 not out.

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