Doh tell mih yuh not excited.

Doh tell mih yuh eh watchin’ de T20 tournament?

What kind ah Trini you is eef yuh eh watchin’ all dis cricket? Okay, ah could see where when de tournament did start, dat yuh wasn’t too intrested. After all, Carnival is just now an’ Machel eh make ah jail. Buh den dem fellas in red start kickin’ arse an’ not takin’ no names in de tournament an’ de news get out, de Red Force is de team tuh beat. Doh tell mih after hearin’ dat yuh still eh take ah peek at none ah de matches? Not even de ones in de Oval? You self man. Steups.

Yuh have one larse chance eh tuh see what ah expect go be more good cricket. De final is tomorrow, Sunday January 20^th an’ guess who done reach de final?

Is we!

Dem udders fightin’ among deyself fuh de privilege ah playin’ T&T Red Force.

YES!!

Ah cyar wait.

Yuh gettin’ excited yet?

All de usual teams from de Caribbean in de tournament. It have Jamaica, Barbados, T&T, de Windward Islands, de Leeward Islands, Guyana. It also have ah team called de Combined Campuses an’ Colleges. Dem doh represent no one country. It does have Trinis, Bajans an’ players from udder islands, maybe even from Guyana. Me eh know nuttin more about dat team. Still, ah does have tuh wonder. You on dat team an’ allyuh in de finals playin’ de team from de country where yuh was born. Fuh kicks, let we say Trinidad an’ Tobago. Dem battin’. Ah Bravo hit de ball in de air by you. What yuh go do? Cyatch it an’ de side yuh on, what it name again, Combined Campuses an’ Colleges, go win? Drop it an’ yuh home country go score two runs an’ win de tournament. Yuh go cyatch de ball? Doh study dat scenario too long eh as de ball go parse yuh an’ reach de boundary.

Okay, okay. Is digress ah digressin’. Ah does always do dat plenty, ent?

So de tournament start in Triniland, in de Oval. Ah wonder eef Tantie Merle was dey? T&T bat fuss against Jamaica an’ score 128 fuh nine. Jamaica manage 5 before rain come and mash up cricket in January. Nobody eh win, nobody eh lorse. After dat was T&T doin’ dey own mashin’ up ah dem udder teams. Dat campuses team get dey licks fuss, den was de Leeward Islands, den Guyana. After dat, de tournament move tuh St. Lucia where de licks continue. De Windward Islands take dey own first an’ den was dem Bajans. T&T reach de final. Which one ah dem udder side brave enough tuh go back fuh more licks?

Ah rootin’ fuh ah T&T vs Jamaica final doh. Dem Jamaicans get away de first game. Ah might geh mih wish. Dey went an’ rush Chris Gayle dong tuh St. Lucia. Ah sure dey do it in anticipation ah playin’ Triniland in de final. Dat is alright, it go be bull pistle across all ah dem back. Buh he was ah instant hit, so tuh speak. Was one set ah blade he put on dem Combined Campuses an’ Colleges bowlers. He blast dem fuh 85 runs orf 44 balls. Buh dat is okay. Let he bring he best bat fuh de finals. De only balls he go be blastin’ is he own.

Who is de stars ah de tournament fuh Trinidad an’ Tobago? Well de Bravo brudders fuh starters. Darren look so good hittin’ de ball fuh six. Man, he an’ Pollard make destroyin’ Guyana look easy. Ah going an’ digress. Ah doh like how Chanderpaul does bat. He does block up de stumps like he eh want de bowler see de stumps. How yuh suppose tuh out he? Buh was de Red Force so dey out he. Den against de Windwards, Darren hook up wid he bigger brudder, Dwayne. Eef dat match was was still goin’ orn, de two ah dem would ah still be battin’ all now. Buh dey put de Windward players out dey misery early. T&T is all ah dem master in dis form ah cricket. Dem boys good oui. It eh just in battin’, or bowlin’ or fieldin’, is in all areas ah de game. Dey clinical.

Ah was explainin’ tuh ah pardnah, cricket is really ah one on one competition. Batsman against bowler. When dat bowler bowl dat ball, yuh cyar call fuh help from yuh teammates nah. Is you at dat crease who have tuh know what tuh wid dat ball comin’ at yuh. Yuh could close yuh eye an’ voops eef yuh want. When I was growin’ up, we used tuh say, voops an’ yuh go out just now. Bravo an’ dem wasn’t voopin’. Dem sixes look like dey geh hit so effortlessly. Timin’, power an’ dat ball meetin’ de bat sweet spot. Nice too bard.

Since T&T went tuh de Championship League tournament dat first time an’ did lose tuh dat Australian team, dem fellas been gettin’ great experience. Just as important, dey developin’ dat intangible quality of focusing. Underestimate how important focusin’ is, and yuh dorgs dead. Den it like de management eh fightin’ de players an’ de players eh look like dey fightin’ management. All ah dem on de same side fightin’ de udder team. Dat good. Players showin’ confidence in each udder an’ ah focus dat not gettin’ shake. Dey believe dey go win, dey playin’ tuh win an’ dey arse better win so I doh end up in it, cussin’.

I was watchin’ dem chase de Windward Island totals. Arong 15 overs gorn an’ dem Bravo brudders battin’. One run here, one run there, dey takin’ dey cool time. Me? I dey shoutin’ at de screen, ‘allyuh eh see damn time an’ overs runnin’ out? Start hittin’ six! Start hittin’ six! $%$##@’ Is ah good ting dey eh take mih orn. Den like two overs later, was blade. Dat is confidence in ability. Yes. Ah was totally impressed.

Besides de Bravo brudders wid de bat de next set ah stars fuh T&T? De whole team an’ dem who managin’ it.

How much time we see udder Trini sports team like dey missin’ someting? Dey have talent buh dey eh sure ah deyself. Or dey have talent an’ tink dat mean dey reach an’ could ease up. Dey eh even at de top yet.

Ah sayin’ dat an’ is de Soca Warriors ah tinkin’ about yes. Tuh me, each ting de Red Force doin’ right, dem footballers doin’ wrong. Dat include de management too. While ah cyar comment about de management…… nah dat is shit, ah could comment about de management. De management ah football in T&T is horrible. It bankrupt in more ways dan one. It eh on de side ah de players. Dat eh news, we did done know dat after Germany. We see how dey treat dem fellas. Start wid bad management an’ is only dong hill yuh could go.

Unlike de cricketers, de footballers hardly have experience. Usually limited experience mean yuh does do shit under pressure. Like give way de ball easy or start boom kickin’. Ah does read dem players mind an’ ah does hear dem tinkin’ during ah game, ‘me eh want dis ball near me nah so…. BOOM KICK, you take it’. Not dem cricketers in de Red Force, In dis tournament we seein’ when tings wobble lil bit wid dem, dey put dey head dong an’ focus.

Ah next ting? I doh hear dem cricketers tryin’ tuh use de Lord before ah game tuh save dey baxide. Ah does hear dem tank Him after ah game.

What should happen in T&T is dat all dem udder sports teams, nah fuhget de idea ah, ‘all’, since is only dem footballers ah intrested in. What should happen is dat de entire football fraternity should have meetings wid all de cricketers an’ managers an’ understand what it takes tuh be successful. It might be obvious tuh me an’ you as tuh what takes, buh it eh look like it obvious tuh dem dotish people.

In de meantime, ah expectin’ de Red Force tuh not just meet Jamaica in de final tomorrow Sunday. Ah expect it tuh be dey biggest challenge an’ match ah de tournament. Ah expect Chris Gayle tuh make some big shots buh ah expect de Bravos an’ Pollard tuh make shots just as big. Ah expect we go match he, six fuh six, four fuh four, single fuh single. Den when we out he, ah expect we go whip he team baxide.

Ah convince yuh tuh watch dis one?

Den doh go no place tomorrow just before 8.00 pm, Trini time. Ah mean de real 8.00pm, not de Trini idea ah 8.00 pm. Ah promise yuh go see T&T doin’ tings in cricket de way dey should be done at dis level.

Try dis link tuh see it all:

http://coolsport.tv/kiwi2.html