Sports
Newsday Reporter
VIDIA RAMPHAL
As Trinidad and Tobago shape their plans for the 2026 first-class season, Ricky Jaipaul has re-entered the selection conversation after eight years in exile.
The left-arm orthodox spinner returned to the national team setup during the 2025 CG United Super50 Cup after last wearing Red Force colours in 2017.
Jaipaul finished as the team’s second-highest wicket-taker with six scalps in three completed games, and posted the fifth-best economy rate in the tournament (3.48).
Now, the Marchin Patriots spinner is pressing his case for a first-class place.
“I have my goal set to be back on the four-day team,” he told Newsday, “I will continue to train hard and remain fit. I always believe that performance speaks for itself.”
Jaipaul made his long-awaited return in November against Barbados at the Sir Frank Worrell Memorial Cricket Field in St Augustine.
Walking onto the field to receive his cap, the emotions of the last decade washed over him.
“It was a bittersweet moment,” he said. “Knowing that your hard work has paid off for this moment.”
Back in 2017, he played against Barbados in a first-class match before a split webbing ended his participation in the tournament.
Jaipaul was sure he would be back the following season. He was wrong.
His injury coincided with the rise of fellow left-arm spinners Akeal Hosein and Khary Pierre, and Jaipaul saw his opportunities diminish.
“The guys I was competing with were actually playing for the West Indies. Sometimes, you know, it’s unfortunate.”
Many would have packed it in, but instead, the Chaguanas-born spinner dug in.
Jaipaul continued to turn out for local outfits Merry Boys and Central Sports – where he achieved the rare feat of taking all ten wickets in a single innings – before eventually settling at Marchin Patriots.
“I never gave up on that part. I never stopped trying,” he said. “I always thought that, you know, I would always get an opportunity again.”
Jaipaul’s refusal to quit was a trait forged in a turbulent adolescence.
At just 15, Jaipaul and his older brother left their family home, rented a small apartment, and were forced to grow up overnight.
To survive, he began working for a landscaping company to pay the bills, while trying to build a cricket career.
“We had to fight for everything we wanted in life. It was engraved in me,” Jaipaul said.
He later bought his own equipment and founded RL Landscaping, a company he continues to run today.
When his motivation waned, Jaipaul leaned on advice he got from West Indies star Evin Lewis.
He had asked Lewis why he continued to maintain such high standards in local cricket, even as a seasoned West Indies player.
“Anytime you walk on a cricket field, always give your best because you never know what can skyrocket, or you can go down. Never give them the chance to drop you,” Jaipaul remembered Lewis saying.
Jaipaul took that to heart, but in 2023, his career hit a physical speedbump that threatened to end his dream permanently.
During the Championship Division 50-over final, while attempting to field to his own bowling, Jaipaul suffered a severe compound fracture to his thumb.
“I knew something was wrong. When I looked down, I saw the bone was out of my hand,” he said.
When he got to the hospital, his concern wasn’t the pain, but his future, and he posed his fears to the attending doctor.
“I can’t promise you that you’ll be able to move your finger much after it’s fixed,” Jaipaul recalls the doctor saying.
Nonetheless, Jaipaul was elated: “I was really, really happy, you know, that I could actually play cricket again.”
Two seasons after returning to action and taking bagfuls of wickets, he got a call from national selector Rajindra Mangalie confirming his place in the Red Force team for the 2025 Super50 Cup.
He thanked the selector and put down the phone and cried.
“It was my dream to actually play cricket for TT,” he explained, “It was the happiest moment of my cricketing career.”
After his encouraging return at the Super50 Cup, Jaipaul is still not completely satisfied.
“I always believe there’s room for improvement. I always believe that I can do a little bit more,” he said.
With his sights set on a place in the Red Force team for the 2026 first-class competition, Jaipaul has retained the same belief that has driven him through his career.
“Even if you think it’s over, it never is until you give up,” he said, “Believe in God’s timing.”
