PREPARING FOR BATTLE: Barbados players (from left to right), Fidel Edwards, Corey Collymore and Dwayne Smith, get involve in slips catching during a training session at Guaracara Park, Trinidad yesterday. Picture: Brooks LaTouche Photography

by HAYDN GILL in Trinidad

POINTE-A-PIERRE – It could be billed as a champions-of-champions clash.

The Carib Beer Challenge final, which bowls off here today, takes on more significance than any of the six finals since this format of the regional calendar was introduced in 2001.

Contested over five days, the final brings together Carib Beer Cup champions Barbados and KFC Cup kings Trinidad and Tobago in a repeat of last season's final.

There are many similarities to last year's match.

The venue remains the same. It is Guaracara Park, home of the Petrotin Sports Club, close to the southern town of San Fernando.

The teams are also virtually the same. Barbados' 14-man squad includes 11 of those who were here last year and Trinidad and Tobago have retained 12 of their 14 that lifted the Challenge en route to completing the double.

Even the four umpires are the same.

In the build-up to this match, both teams also faced selection headaches.

What's the best Barbados line-up?

The two pertinent questions facing Barbados selectors are the choice of No. 6 and which of the faster bowlers to omit.

It is a straight fight between Alcindo Holder and Shamarh Brooks for the final batting position.

Neither has done anything this season to suggest that he should play before the other, but Brooks certainly had a positive look about him
in the lone first-class match against Guyana in which he hit polished 20s in both innings

It is more of a challenge in deciding the make-up of the bowling attack.

Against the background that off-spinner Ryan Austin wasn't picked for the earlier match against Trinidad and Tobago who are usually at home against the slower stuff, there could be the temptation to go in with a four-pronged pace attack of Pedro Collins, Corey Collymore, Tino Best and Fidel Edwards.

Bearing in mind that Dwayne Smith is regarded more as a part-time seamer these days, it might be an overkill of pace to go on a pitch which is usually placid and favourable for batsmen.

Collins and Best are certain of play on the strength of their performances this season and Collymore is as good as any on his day. Edwards bowled well enough against Guyana to deserve retention, but in the circumstances, he seems the most likely to miss out.

The Lara and Bravo factor

It is almost mystifying to hear of the talk in Trinidad that Brian Lara and Dwayne Bravo should not come into the reckoning to interfere with a winning combination.

All credit must be given to the men that won the KFC Cup with a 100 per cent winning record and came second in the Carib Cup, but once Lara and Bravo are available, it should not even be a bone of contention if they should play.

They can only strengthen Trinidad and Tobago's line-up.

Lara and Bravo were predictably named in a 16-man squad yesterday, but there was no room for experienced fast bowler Mervyn Dillon.

Even so, choosing the final XI won't be straightforward and you can look for a surprise omission.

The conditions

Guaracara Park is traditionally a surface that batsmen enjoy and don't expect anything significantly different over the next five days.

The track was bone-hard yesterday with an odd straw colour and it looked full of runs.

The outfield, however, wasn't the most ideal.

It was dry in some areas and uneven in others. It is the sort of outfield where the bounce could be unpredictable, but it is nothing to complain about.

Pre-match talk

Ryan Hinds on Cup champions Barbados having to play the final away from home:

"It's not much of a setback. It is really unfortunate that the winning team has to play away from home. It would have been nice if we could have played in Barbados or even at a neutral ground.

"I hope that the people in charge would take these things into consideration. You don't want to give any team a home advantage. Trinidad know the conditions at Guaracara Park pretty well.

"Other than that, we've come here to play cricket and hopefully we can come out with a positive result."

David Williams on the possibility of complacency in the Trinidad and Tobago team: "We spoke about that at length. We have won ten games now, but we spoke about that since we won six or seven.

"I don't see complacency being a factor now. This is the grand finale."