Tridents getting back to basics

THE Barbados Tridents will be looking to get their basics right as they hope to turn around their fortunes in the 2017 Hero Caribbean Premier League.

The Tridents are set to battle Guyana Amazon Warriors in a 6 p.m. clash at Kensington Oval today and Tridents captain, Kieron Pollard, said that the team has to “go right back down to the basics”.

“Simple things like watching the ball right into your hands when it is coming. We have dropped a lot of catches throughout the tournament – all teams, but our catches have cost us most of the games.

“So I think going back to the basics, straight back down to the level of ABC in terms of cricket.”

Pollard, who was speaking at a media conference at the Barbados Hilton yesterday, said: “You can have the flare, you can hit the ball, you can bowl, you can do whatever, once you don’t do the basics and you don’t do the simple things right, then it’s never going to happen for you.”

The Tridents will be making their bid for the playoffs of the tournament and after three consecutive losses, Pollard is confident of a better performance at Kensington Oval as they welcome England Twenty20 star, Eoin Morgan.

“I don’t think we are in the position we would’ve liked to be in, but these things happen,” said Pollard, as the team enjoyed a lengthy break.

After more than a week off from competition, Pollard said that he thought it was a positive thing for the team. “I look at it as a positive, getting the opportunity to not travel around and jump on a plane and play. It’s important to rest and not think about cricket for a little bit, especially when things are not going your way.

“We would’ve had a lot of days to reflect on what we have to do. Guys would have gone back, had a bit of rest, taken their minds off cricket a bit and hopefully with a fresh mind, we can come and play some better cricket in our home leg of the tournament,” he noted.

With the victory on his mind, Pollard pointed to controlling the things they can control. “In order to win the cricket game, you need to bat well, you need to bowl well, you need to field well. All the other elements such as the weather and all these things become irrelevant if you don’t do the basics of cricket.”

Both the Tridents and the Amazon Warriors are making their final bid for the playoffs as they are in a must-win situation.

Warriors, who have won the last two games they have played, are being led by Rayad Emrit, who spent the first three years of the tournament with the Tridents.

Emrit emphasised playing smart cricket. “We’ve not been smart in some of the games we’ve lost, but hopefully we can put that behind us and get the results that we need in the games going forward,” he stated. (CG)