The Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) has given local selectors its full backing.
Describing it as a “very tough job”, president of the BCA, Joel Garner, has given the assurance that whatever decisions are made by selectors would be fully supported by the board.
His comments came in the wake of Kirk Edwards being selected as captain of the Barbados team for the Caribbean CT20 2012 ahead of teammate Dwayne Smith, who many people believed was a better choice for the shortened version of the game.
Speaking at the BCA’s annual luncheon at Accra Beach Hotel on Thursday, Garner, himself a former selector, maintained that being a selector was a difficult job, and that no matter what decisions were made, people would still have a problem with the players selected.
“Only 11 people can play and people are not always going to be happy with the selections, but at the end of the day we can congratulate the selectors for the job which they are doing.
“It’s not an easy job. . . . You have people in your ears at all hours telling you who should be playing and who shouldn’t be playing, even though they can’t see what you can see.
“We will continue to support you in the duty that you do,” he assured.
Garner also announced that the BCA was poised to receive $500 000 over a five-year period from British philanthropist Lord Gavron, and that this would go a long way in helping the association to continue its developmental programmes.
He said that it was the BCA’s plan to continue giving scholarships to the younger players, as Barbados’ focus continued to be on producing good all-round cricketers.
“We will continue with these scholarships because we think it is a process in the development of the players.
“They go away from home, they play in a different environment, and they play in different leagues . . . and they grow up, and they grow up very quickly,” he said.
The president noted that two winners of the Lord Gavron Scholarship, Kemar Roach and Kraigg Brathwaite, had gone on to represent the West Indies, and this was evidence that the programme was bearing fruit.
