One thing is for sure. One of Kirk Edwards’ New Year’s resolutions will be to do exactly the same things in 2012 as he did in 2011.
A century on his Test debut for the West Indies team, a stellar tour of Bangladesh where he helped the regional side to its first overseas win since 2002, and then being named as Barbados’ newest captain for the forthcoming Caribbean CT20 tournament are among the highlights of his past year.
At just 27 years old, the future looks bright for the middle order batsman who became only the 14th West Indian batsman to score a century on debut, scoring 110 against India at Roseau on July 6. In doing so, he joined Conrad Hunte (1955), Gordon Greenidge (1974) and Dwayne Smith (2004) as the only Barbadians to have scored debut tons, and the first West Indian since Adrian Barath did so in 2009.
After introducing himself to the world stage in the most distinguishing of fashions, Edwards was named in the West Indies Test squad to tour Bangladesh and India, and he did not disappoint.
Playing in the second Test match against Bangladesh, Edwards scored 121 runs in the first innings and barely missed out on scoring back-to-back tons, being dismissed for 86 in the second innings to help West Indies record a mammoth 229-run victory and the series victory.
The tour of India followed soon after, and despite the West Indies’ failing to win a Test match in the three-game series, he performed admirably with the bat and was one of the outstanding performers of the tour, notching two half centuries in difficult conditions.
Despite not being named in the One Day International (ODI) squad and people labelling him as a Test player only, on his return home from duty with the regional side, Edwards was appointed captain of the Barbados T20 team.
When asked about his success in 2011, Edwards – who has captained the Barbados Under 15 team as well as having played for the West Indies Under 19 and the West Indies ‘A’ teams – said that he was fully focused and intended to continue putting his best foot forward.
About his most recent achievement of being named as captain for the regional tournament, Edwards noted the widespread view that he was not suited to the shorter versions of the game but said he did not let that negative talk get to him.
“I feel really good with how I have performed over the course of the year because every time I go out to the crease, I always aim to do my best. Being named as the Barbados captain is indeed an honour, and having captained the Barbados Under 15 side, I know the responsibility which is being placed on my shoulders and I am ready for the challenge.
We have a very good team, and once we really put everything together on the field I am confident that we can go really far in the tournament,” he said.
“As for those people who keep saying that I can’t play in 50-Over or Twenty/20 games, that’s their opinion and they can say whatever they like.
“I don’t really let that negative talk get to me at all. I know what I have to do and I am going to make sure that I go out there and do it.
“Scoring runs, for me, has never been a problem. I’ve been scoring runs all my life, so I really don’t see what the problem is now.”
