Trinidad and Tobago Red Force resume their quest for 2025 West Indies Championship glory when they face Jamaica Scorpions in the penultimate round at Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba on April 2, from 1 pm.
Red Force (101 pts) are currently second on the eight-team standings behind leaders and defending champions Guyana Harpy Eagles (102.6 pts), with both teams having won four and drawn one of their five matches this season.
Victory for TT over Jamaica across the next four days would keep them within contention of the coveted crown, which has eluded them since 2006. Additionally, it would also set up a grand finale between TT and Guyana, who meet in their final round at Queen’s Park Oval, St Clair, from April 9-12.
Red Force will be without two crucial fast bowlers, Jayden Seales and Anderson Phillip, who have left the squad to play County cricket in England. However, of the remaining players, everyone is fit for the Jamaica contest, but up to publication, the final squad was not yet confirmed.
TT head coach Rayad Emrit, who was part of the 2006 title-winning Red Force team, believes his squad has the formula to go all the way, with Jason Mohammed atop the batting leaderboard with 519 runs at an average of 103.80, with three centuries.
In the bowling department, after five rounds, TT left-arm spinner Khary Pierre tops the charts with 31 wickets.
In an interview on April 1, Emrit told Newsday, “The feeling is good. The guys are confident. We trained this morning and had our meeting. The guys are really happy with where they are. We don’t want to get complacent. We know what we have to do and there’s a job still at hand, and we’re hoping to get another good result.”
Emrit said victory against the Scorpions would be one of their most important wins to remain on course for the trophy.
“It’s been a while since we’ve been in this situation. If we can get a good result in this game, the last game will be a grand finale playing at home against Guyana. It’s a game we’re looking forward to, but we have to take care of Jamaica first. It’s like a semi-final for us.
“We have a full squad to pick from. Everyone is fit and there are no injury concerns. Everyone has passed their fitness tests.”
Having been appointed head coach after round one, on the heels of David Furlonge’s resignation, Emrit has thrived at the helm. He’s enjoying the ride but confirmed there were some changes he had to make to get the best out of his players.
As coach leading his team into the final two rounds with a possibility of ending their lengthy four-day title drought, Emrit said, “It’s been good. I thoroughly enjoy this journey. As a coach, coming into a team, you would want to be in this position. The guys have really welcomed me and the hardest thing is to try to adapt to change, and I think they have done an excellent job.
“They are seeing the progress and that’s the most important thing. Our culture, we needed to change some things in it and they’ve bought into it.”
When asked on what he expects fifth-placed Jamaica (
