Young Blues reap rewards

New South Wales Blues captain Simon Katich believes the Champions League Twenty20 opened a new chapter in international cricket and felt the experience it provided for young cricketers was invaluable.

The Australian side's big-match experience came to the fore as they defeated Trinidad & Tobago by 41 runs in the final in Hyderabad.

NSW, who had lost to T&T in a second-round match earlier in the tournament, easily defended a relatively small total of 159, beating the West Indians convincingly in the end.

The Australian side pocketed the winner's cheque of 2.5million US dollars and Katich said he was grateful for the opportunities the tournament presented.

"A lot of our young guys have had the chance to play on a world stage and show what they are capable of," he said.

"All the teams who came here have had the opportunity to basically play at an international level."

"It's invaluable for our young guys, some of them are under 20 and are playing in front of 30,000 people."

"This will hold them in good stead when they play international cricket down the track."

"It's been a brilliant experience."

NSW, sent in to take first strike, was almost of the verge of collapse when Brett Lee rescued the innings with an excellent 48.

Steven Smith chipped in with 33, the only other worthwhile contribution.

Lee, who was named man of the match and man of the tournament, then gave his side a great start with the new ball, picking up two early wickets, while Steven Smith also claimed two scalps as T&T was bowled out for 118 in reply.

"This is a very proud moment for us," Katich said.

"Congratulations to T&T, they have been magnificent competitors in this tournament and they have shown everyone what they are capable of."

"The NSW guys turned in a superb effort, they never gave up."

"Brett Lee and Steven Smith were fantastic getting us to that total and we were happy with that."

"We know there have been some high scores on this wicket but in a final we know what can happen under pressure."

"With our bowling line-up we knew if we created enough opportunities we would prevail and the guys did a magnificent job in the field to back them up."

T&T captain Daren Ganga admitted his team had succumbed to pressure.

"It was a good run for us, but we didn't really come through in this final," Ganga said.

"Today was the only day we sort of buckled under pressure."

"All credit to NSW, they played great cricket."

"We had them on the ropes, but it was important for us to keep taking wickets."

"Brett Lee came in and made a difference. He applied himself and took his chances and was able to get his team to a good total."

"We thought it was a good total to chase, but we didn't set things up nicely."

"We lost too many wickets too fast and it put us under pressure at the end."

Ganga too gave the tournament a huge stamp of approval.

"The memories have been great, the support and the experience have been fantastic," he said.

"This will make a huge difference to the lives of a number of young players."

"Back home in the Caribbean, this is going to provide a lot of inspiration for a lot of young men."

"Hopefully they can use this to build on their careers."