File photos
From left, Gayle and Ganga

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):

JAMAICA CAPTAIN Chris Gayle and his Trinidadian counterpart, Daren Ganga, have called for an extended KFC Cup competition.

The tournament, divided into two zones, saw teams playing a maximum of three preliminary matches in the first-round stage in Guyana. Only the teams that advanced to the semi-finals played more.

"(Playing more matches), it's an opportunity to keep the standard really high so that everybody gets a chance to play against each other," said, Gayle, who led Jamaica to a 28-run win over Trinidad and Tobago in the final of the tournament last Sunday.

"We (Jamaica) missed out on playing two of the top teams (Guyana and T&T). It was a bit disappointing. Hopefully, in the future we can get a better structure," he said. Though reaching the final, T&T played just four games in the tournament as their semi-final against Barbados was abandoned last Friday because of a soggy outfield.

Short-changed

Ganga said with the international players available, the tournament's value would have been increased had more matches been played.

"We are short-changed to some extent, with the amount of cricket. All of your international players are available for this regional tournament and I think it would have been wonderful for everyone to compete against each other," Ganga contended. "I think having more cricket would have definitely been a better option."

Jamaica reached the final after beating Guyana by seven wickets in their semi-final.