We expect a Trinidad and Tobag victory

The last two years saw Trinidad and Tobago meeting Guyana in Shell/Sandals One-day finals. In 1995, we hosted Guyana, and the rain ruined the finals to leave us as joint champions.

Last year, we met Guyana again, this time in Guyana. That was definitely the best day's cricket I have played for my country. Witnessing the team spirit on that day is something I'll always remember and cherish. Guyana were cruising to victory until the ``never-say-die'' team spirit came out in full force. Danny's first hattrick pulled us through at the end, not forgetting Man-of-the-Match Phil Simmons' all-round performance.

T&T versus Guyana for the third time. What a great Red Stripe Bowl final it would be, albeit without home advantage for either team. Jamaica's weather apparently heard we were coming and greeted us with some October showers. This meant we were unable to get in the kind of practice planned as Thursday's session at UWI was washed out and yesterday's was restricted to two hours in concrete nets.

The batting has established itself already. I think Ragoonath has a secure spot as TT's number one opening batsman. He's had a brilliant 1997 season, and his selection on the ``A'' team to South Africa should give him the confidence to succeed in this tournament. His role is now very clear-cut. He is not only expected to lay the foundation of the batting but to carry on and give us match-winning innings. His opening partner could, like last year, be AndrŽ Lawrence, who seems to be in some sort of form with a couple of half-centuries, including a commanding 84, during trials.

I'm also thinking about Ian Bishop as an opener. He successfully partnered Ragoo in our victory against world champions Sri Lanka in April this year.

The number three and six positions will be decided between Smithy, Roberts, and Ganga. The two most experienced players are Phil and myself. I will probably go in at four, and Phil at five. With that line-up, hopefully David Williams at seven will be coming in to throw his bat at everything in the last five overs.

As for bowling, our proven formula for the last couple of years has been one pacer with three spinners, and Phil and AndrŽ doing their bit with the ball. But now that we have more experienced fast bowlers doing well (Nigel Francis, Mervyn Dillon and Ian Bishop are now all on West Indies teams), we may lean towards two pacers and two spinners, along with Phil and AndrŽ.

It's no secret that Ian has a bit of a problem bowling in One-dayers so we'll be looking to ease him in at the right time. The new round-robin format allows us to experiment early on. Don't be worried if you see a couple of the big names missing. I'm not in total agreement with the format. I'd much prefer the quarterfinal winners going through to the semis with second playing third. It's a bit unfair to the teams that have done well in the early stages for the fourth place team to still have a chance to take the title.

Considered the underdogs by some, Bermuda were winless in 1996 but that's no reason to take them lightly. Of course, there's a possibility of meeting them again in the knockout stage, so we'll be assessing every part of their game. Be as positive as I am. Expect a victory. Send your cricket tips and suggestions to Jamaica! E-mail the column at and copy to the express@trinidad.net