BARBADOS’ cricket selectors don’t plan to tolerate any acts of indiscipline this season.
Tino Best has found out the hard way.
The exuberant fast bowler has been dropped from the national team on disciplinary grounds after an incident during a practice session at Kensington Oval yesterday afternoon.
DAILY NATION investigations revealed that Best expressed concern with some of the physical drills at the start of the session and he left training before the players went into the nets.
While a Press release from the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA)?did not give a reason for Best’s omission from the 13-man squad for the team’s second-round match of the WICB four-day competition against England Lions starting tomorrow, chairman of selectors George Linton confirmed that it was triggered by the events at the practice session.
“We were called into a discussion. He was very disrespectful to the trainer and was disruptive to the practice session,” Linton said.
“If a guy is disrespectful, he has to learn that we are not going to tolerate it.”
After Best left the practice session, there was on on-field discussion that involved Linton, fellow selectors Winston Reid and Mike Inniss, team manager Desmond Haynes, coach Vasbert Drakes, assistant coach Emmerson Trotman and captain Ryan Hinds.
With Best discarded, the selectors have recalled recuperating fast bowler Fidel Edwards following a lengthy layoff because of a back injury.
Best, who was last month named as one of three reserves in the West Indies’ World Cup squad, was Barbados’ most outstanding fast bowler during the first-round match against Trinidad and Tobago at Guaracara Park that ended last Monday.
When contacted, Best said he had not been notified of his omission from the team and declined comment on the matter.
The 29-year-old Best has been a consistent member of the Barbados team since making his debut in 2002 and has taken 242 wickets in 82 first-class matches.
