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Jamaican
fans in a somber mood.
BY
VINODE MAMCHAN
(Coolidge, Antigua)
AFTER a month of exciting cricket, the Stanford Twenty/20
cricket series is over and cricketers from T&T and Jamaica
are all better off, financially that is.
T&T defeated Jamaica in the final to cop their first
Stanford Twenty/20 crown and cap off a great tournament
in which they played unbeaten.
A brilliant display of chinaman and googly bowling from
spin bowler Dave Mohammed gave T&T the first prize of
US$1M (TT$6.3 m)
Mohammed bowling his left arm unorthodox spin mesmerized
the Jamaicans and at the end of night on Sunday at the picturesque
Stanford Cricket ground, they were well and truly beaten
by nine wickets.
T&T chasing 92 runs for victory at a rate of 4.60 ran
away winners after just 9.2 overs reaching 94 for one.
West Indies wicketkeeper/batsman Denesh Ramdin set the tone
for the run chase by smashing 11 runs from just four balls
with a four and six and although he fell to Jerome Taylor
with the score on 14, T&T were not in trouble.
That little pocket of dynamite William Perkins batted bravely
once again and treated the Jamaican Test duo of Daren Powell
and Taylor with disdain. T&T 50 came up after just five
overs with Simmons playing some languid drives on the other
end, much to the delight of the 1000 or so T&T supporters
who had flown over to Antigua for the weekend to witness
the title match.
In their first match, T&T came up against St. Lucia
and left arm spinner Dave ‘Tadpole’‚ Mohammed
telegraphed to them just how powerful the Calypso Cricketers
were on the regional scene. Mohammed grabbed the man of
the match title for his 5/8 and T&T went on to win the
match by eight wickets.
Next up for them was the quarter final clash against St.
Vincent and the Grenadines. T&T started off poorly but
Dwayne Bravo playing his first match at the Stanford Twenty/20
championships slammed 60 and with William Perkins also getting
a half century, T&T won the match by 59 runs.
When the tournament started T&T had already mapped out
their route and barring any major upsets, they knew they
were going to face long time rivals Barbados in the semi-finals.
To the strains to ‘Sweet T&T’‚ sung by
David Rudder, the large contingent of T&T fans were
dancing and celebrating on Friday night, as the men from
the land of the Humming Bird, had again clipped Barbados.
Mohammed had just bowled a brilliant last over to gave T&T
a five-run victory. The prize. A place in the US$1M finals.
T&T looked dead and buried with Barbados on 79 for three
with eight overs to go, chasing 121 runs for victory. However
that fighting spirit that has epitomized this T&T team
over the past few years was evident again. Barbados fell
to the T&T spinners with Sherwin Ganga, Samuel Badree
and Mohammed coming through for skipper Daren Ganga.
Barbados needed 26 runs from the final two overs and got
12 from the penultimate over bowled by Sherwin Ganga. This
left the Barbadians needing 14 runs from the last over by
Mohammed. He was able to squeeze them and they fell five
runs short.
Overall the tournament was a great success for West Indies
cricket as not only did players benefit financially, many
were also given the opportunity to showcase their talent
on the regional scene.
Future of Stanford Twenty/20?
Talks are ongoing between the president of the West Indies
Cricket Board (WICB) Dr. Julien Hunte and president of Stanford
Financial, Sir Allen Stanford to make the popular Stanford
Twenty/20 series a permanent fixture on the West Indies
cricket calendar.
Last year the WICB and Stanford Financial signed a franchise
deal for a five-year period. Hunte said: “This Stanford
Twenty/20 tournament is very important to the game in the
Caribbean. It has given so much exposure to little known
teams and cricketers. When these guys go out there to play,
they know that they are being seen and this is great for
their cause.
“In
its short life span thus far, this series has made great
strides and we would like to make it a permanent fixture
in West Indies cricket. I have already held talks with Sir
Allen and we would continue to have talks until this becomes
reality.”
Hunte who is in Antigua for a WICB meeting added that Stanford
is to the Caribbean what the Indian Professional League
(IPL) is to India. “This is good for our development
and is really what the IPL is to India.”
STATE
OF T&T’s KITTY
Winners - US$1M
Man of the match award in finals - US$100,000
Play of the match award - US$25,000
Development fund for TTCB - US$200,000
Total - US$1,325,000
T&T’s RECORD IN STANFORD TWENTY/20 CRICKET 2006-2008
2006
Vs Cayman Islands - T&T won by 8 wkts.
Vs Barbados - T&T won by 46 runs.
Vs Nevis - T&T won by 74 runs.
Finals vs Guyana - Guyana won by 5 wkts.
2008
Vs St. Lucia - T&T won by 8 wkts.
Vs St. Vincent & Grenadines - T&T won by 59 runs.
Vs Barbados - T&T won by 5 runs.
Grand Finals vs Jamaica - T&T won by nine wickets.
Matches played - 8
Matches won - 7
Matches lost - 1
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