Red Force coach David Furlonge said his training programme for the national team is being adjusted to identify and correct technical flaws in players.
This comes after Trinidad and Tobago’s unimpressive fourth-place finish in the regional four-day tournament two weeks ago. TT have not won the four-day title since 2006 under ex-captain Daren Ganga.
When the squad returns to training this week, Furlonge plans to form small groups of players who share similar weaknesses, and have them work together on remodelling their technique and tactics for different situations of the game.
Furlonge believes this will help staff better identify any recurring issues and also aid players in modifying their approach during game play.
“We’re going to look at the technical aspect. We’re not going to have any major group training again. We’re going to have small groups training; individuals working on different technical aspects of their game that we saw they need to improve on – the mental part as well.
“We’ll talk cricket and the different situations in a game. When we practice, we’ll practice with different scenarios. If you just have an over to bat before lunch or at the end of play, or an hour remaining in the day’s play…These are just some of the game situations we’ll be looking at.”
Batting remains TT's biggest inconsistency. Furlonge thinks the only way this can be corrected is if his players get more time out in the middle.
During last year’s one-month break in the middle of the competition, Red Force and other territorial players took part in a T10 competition. Despite TT's good start to the championship, they capitulated after the break and fell out of title contention.
This year, there was a similar pause in the tournament, but this time, players returned to their clubs to help them through their domestic competitions. However, the outcome was the same,
Furlonge continued, “We’re looking at the month break between matches and what we do. Do we let players go back to their clubs? The season is only five games for the year. For us to do well, we have to be playing more games. We have to come up with a plan to play more games.
“Do we play Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday then let the players play with their clubs on a Saturday and Sunday? We need to be playing more cricket. But the board is now thinking about having all the games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the next season.”
With the domestic 50-over competition halfway completed, Furlonge is hoping to call-up some of the standout performers to train with his unit.
The Regional Super50 bowls off in the final quarter of 2023. TT lost the final to Jamaica last year.
Furlonge believes there is enough time to incorporate new or younger talent into the setup to bolster the talent pool ahead of the tournament.
“We’ll take a look at the performances in the local club cricket season and invite some of those players to come and join the training. We’ll have to have discussio
