Dave Mohammed ruled out of KFC Cup

Dave Mohammed, the West Indies and Trinidad and Tobago chinaman bowler, will miss the forthcoming regional KFC Cup limited-overs series due to an injury which doctors say will not heal in time for the start of the tournament. The national selectors have named a 17-man preliminary T&T squad, with the final squad set to be announced on October 8.

"Dave's situation is that his injury needs three more weeks to heal properly, which will take us into the start of the tournament and that has put him out of consideration by the selectors," said T&T team manager Omar Khan.

The squad, captained by Daren Ganga, has seven allrounders including Samuel Badree, whose batting and bowling efforts in the T&T trials had ensured he could not be left out. He was consistent with the ball, picking up a five-wicket haul as well as hitting a blistering half-century in one of the trials.

The manager is very pleased with the selectors' decision as there is no shortage of talent in the T&T squad with West Indies players Ganga, Denesh Ramdin, Dwayne Bravo, Rayad Emrit, Keiron Pollard, Lendl Simmons and Ravi Rampaul all included in the strong line-up.

"It was a very difficult task for the selectors (Dudnath Ramkissoon, Raphick Jumadeen and Bernard Julien), to narrow down the squad to a preliminary 17, but they picked a team they felt was well balanced and I am very happy with the squad," Khan told the Express. "We have a lot of quality players and, with this squad, I think we can make T&T proud."

Speaking on the absence of youngsters Adrian Barath and Darren Bravo, Khan said they will be missed in the line-up, with both representing the West Indies Under-19 squad.

"They are two young, exciting batsmen who have proven their worth and have done well for T&T at the junior and senior level and now they have earned a place in the West Indies Under-19 team. We will have to use what we have and try our best."

The preliminary squad will continue training at the National Cricket Centre and the final squad will be announced on October 8. The team will depart for Guyana on October 13 for the preliminary stage of the tournament which begins on October 16.

Trinidad and Tobago preliminary squad: Daren Ganga (capt), Denesh Ramdin, Dwayne Bravo, Rayad Emrit, Richard Kelly, Mervyn Dillon, Amit Jaggernauth, Ravi Rampaul, Nicholas Ramjass, Magnum Nanan, William Perkins, Mario Belcon, Keiron Pollard, Jason Mohammed, Lendl Simmons, Sherwin Ganga, Samuel Badree