00:00Young cricketers in Trinidad and Tobago will have another opportunity to fine-tune their skills as they rise in the
00:07ranks in local and regional cricket.
00:09Sporting entity Flair Elite launched their under-23 cricket tournament called the Nationwide Under-23 Cup.
00:16Head coach Anil Lacan believes it's an essential competition that will help to prevent the drop-off in cricket activity
00:22after the under-19 level.
00:24We endorse this project because we definitely believe that there is a vacuum.
00:32When players have graduated from the under-19 level, there's absolutely little or no activity for them to go on
00:43and play between that under-19 level and the under-23 level.
00:48He also believes it's a doorway to the national cricket team.
00:51From the moment you've graduated from the youth level, it means to say if your aspirations as a cricketer is
00:58to move on to first-class cricket after under-19, it is the stepping stone to first-class cricket.
01:07So we have witnessed guys who have just participated in the under-19 tournament.
01:16These guys now are vying to be part and parcel of that Red 4 setup.
01:22The tournament is expected to feature eight teams.
01:25CEO of Flair Elite, Shabir Ali, says there will be opportunities for cricketers to make an impact to potential sponsors,
01:32scouts and clubs who will be looking on.
01:34And a lot of players who wish that they would have done better at their youth level, who would have
01:41played at 19, want another opportunity.
01:43And here it is, it presents itself again.
01:45So this is a chance for you as a player, as an individual, to showcase your talent and get any
01:53kind of numbers that we have for this last tournament.
01:57Who knows who is watching the stream?
01:59Who knows who sees you?
02:01Which club, which team, which franchise?
02:03And you can leave your mark in cricket and who knows what the future holds.
02:08He says the demand to take part in the tournament is high.
02:12We have a lot of governing bodies, a lot of agencies that made contact with us to have another tournament
02:19as well.
02:20So we have already planned this one and hopefully this should go as what our process was.
02:28We're looking at eight teams.
02:30If we get more, I know Mr. Lacan will have to work around, do some magic with that if we
02:34get some more teams.
02:35The tournament is set to begin in October.
02:37Sergio Dufawa, TV6 Sport.
02:40We're looking at the tournament.
02:40You
