4-day restructure prompted Logie hiring

Port of Spain, Trinidad - Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) president Azim Bassarath has acknowledged that the restructuring of the WICB Regional Four-Day Tournament played a part in their hiring of Gus Logie as head coach.

The four-day tournament, set to begin in November this year, has been changed to a franchise model with regional players allowed to play for other countries with the option of one international player as well. The season has also been extended with home and away matches scheduled.

Speaking to Newsday yesterday, Bassarath stated it is the overhaul of the First Class system coupled with the poor showing by the Red Force in the four-day format that prompted the TTCB to hire the experienced Logie as coach.

TT, while acknowledged as being the T20 kings of the Caribbean, have been abysmal at times in the four-day version and have not won the First Class competition in the last eight years.

“With the new structure and failure of Trinidad and Tobago - not winning the four-day in such a long time - we decided to make a change.

Gus has been around and not being used regionally so we thought it was the ideal opportunity to bring someone of his caliber into our setup.

He will bring stability to the team,” Bassarath declared yesterday.

Despite only offering Logie a one-year contract, Bassarath somewhat surprisingly said he does not expect immediate success from the coach who guided the West Indies to victory in the ICC Champions Trophy in 2004.

“No, I would be foolish to expect immediate results. Things will have to fall into place and he has to fit into the team.

I hope the team blossoms as soon as possible but no, I don’t expect results right away,” he stated.

Asked specifically about Logie’s contract with the TTCB, Bassarath said, “ It’s one year and after that we hope to look at it and have a long term commitment,” he added.

The TTCB boss has commended the ex-Canada coach, though, for getting into the thick of things immediately, working with several of the young players despite now taking over the reins from Kelvin Williams, who has been demoted to assistant coach.

“He met some of the players already and they’ve all indicated they will be giving him support. I think he wanted to make a contribution to Trinidad and Tobago cricket and didn’t hesitate at all. It was easy for him to accept the position,” he concluded.

First Published In The Trinidad & Tobago Newsday.