The Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) has made a U-turn on Dwayne Smith.
After twice turning down recommendations for his appointment as captain over the past year, the local governing body has appointed the dashing all-rounder as Barbados skipper for the 2013 Caribbean Twenty20.
Smith, an enterprising batsman, handy medium-pacer and brilliant fielder, had been put forward by the George Linton-chaired selection panel as national captain for the 2011 regional limited-overs tournament and the 2012 Caribbean Twenty20 competition three months later.
The BCA board, however, rejected the recommendations on both occasions and instead turned to Kenroy Williams as captain for the limited-overs tournament and Kirk Edwards for the Twenty20 competition.
It was one of the reasons cited by Linton and fellow selectors Winston Reid and Mike Inniss for them resigning in March, pointing out that no explanation was given by the board for turning down their recommendations.
With neither Edwards nor Williams finding a place in the 14-man squad for the January 6-20 tournament in St Lucia and Trinidad, the new selection panel, under the chairmanship of Hendy Wallace, put forward Smith as its choice for captain and the board ratified the appointment.
Shamarh Brooks, who stood in as captain for Edwards in the latter half of the 2012 four-day tournament, has been named vice-captain in his first outing for the island in the shortest form of the game.
When contacted yesterday, BCA first vice-president Conde Riley explained the board’s thinking over the change of heart on Smith.
“It is a question of analyzing whether a player should continue to pay and pay for a mistake he made more than four years ago,” Riley told MIDWEEK SPORT.
“He is much more matured. At the time, we didn’t feel he was ready but we’ve had a change of heart.”
Smith, 29, was first appointed as national captain for the 2008 Stanford 20/20 Tournament in Antigua in which Barbados lost to Trinidad and Tobago at the semi-final stage.
In a post-match Press conference, he made remarks that reportedly did not meet the approval of the board.
Smith filled in as captain for one match when Edwards was injured during last year’s Caribbean Twenty20 in which he impressed as a batsman, showing tremendous improvement in his shot selection on the way to a team high 165 runs at an average of 33.00 and a strike-rate of 136.36.
“We are giving him the opportunity to lead in a game that he plays well,” Riley said.
“We hope that he can lead this young team to the championship. The majority of the guys are young and we are hoping he can get the best out of the team.”
Barbados’ first match in the Caribbean Twenty20 will be against Leeward Islands on January 7 at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad where they will also meet Jamaica on January 8, Guyana on January 10 and Combined Campuses and Colleges on January 11.
When the tournament moves to the Beausejour Stadium, St Lucia, they play against Trinidad and Tobago on January 16 and Windward Islands on January 17.
Barbados’ captain for the regional Super50 and four-day competitions, which will be played simultaneously from February 7 to May 7, will be announced next month.
