Port-of-Spain, Trinidad

The Combined Campuses and Colleges won't be 'backing off' from anyone when they come face-to-face with the region's best in the upcoming Caribbean T20 tournament. The CCC have blown hot and cold in the three previous tournaments but believe this year they could upset the apple cart and lift the cup.

Floyd Reifer, the experienced player/coach is of the opinion that inexperience has affected his charges in the past, but said he has seen a steely resolve which has been evident in recent months and his players have grown in the game.

stand-out players

An example of this happened earlier this week when they went toe-to-toe with Barbados at the 3Ws Oval on a two-match series. Two new faces, seamer Keswick Williams from St Vincent and left-arm spinner Derone Davis from Trinidad, were the stand-out players and are expected to feature prominently in the coming weeks.

"Inexperience comes out a lot especially under pressure. Pressure brings the best out of people, sometimes it brings the worst out of people," said Reifer, as his team prepared for the tournament.

"I try to teach my guys how to handle the pressure and how to operate under pressure. One thing you don't do under pressure is panic.

"Once you push that panic button you're dead! What we don't want to do is push the panic button. We try our best to remain as calm as possible while analysing the situation all the time and again, that's where roles come into play. You have guys that play certain roles."

Reifer, who is a former Barbados stalwart and West Indies captain back in 2009, has been a stabilising force in the CCC. He said fans can expect his side to continue to improve with experience.

"To be fair to CCC, I think we have played some of the best T20 cricket in the Caribbean T20. In that first year, when the tournament started, we tied with Barbados twice, chasing 180," he said.