IS IT REALLY FAIR to select three Barbados youth teams for regional age-group competitions without a single trial match?
Ever since the Everton Weekes Centre Of Excellence finally came on stream on the heels of the appointment of a director of coaching, Henderson Springer, and three Barbados Cricket Association coaches in Emmerson Trotman, Vasbert Drakes and Dexter Toppin, there has been a noticeable shift in the way Barbados teams, at all levels, are prepared and selected.
It appears that trial matches, which were usually the guide in the selection of national players, have become a thing of the past. Varying reasons have been given for the abandonment of trials, with some observers claiming that approach has become too costly and others pointing out that the timing of such matches clashes with examinations.
Another claim is that there is the fear that some “sure picks” might fail in the trial matches while some unfancied cricketers may perform outstandingly and upset the applecart.
But for the many, trials were seen as a means of separating the sheep from the goats.
Hence, the majority of the performers in national trials were usually the ones chosen to represent Barbados, with notable exceptions being the established national or West Indies representatives. But times have changed and it now seems attending sessions at the Centre of Excellence, batting and bowling in the nets are what matters most.
However, cricket is played in match situations and players should always be tested in such circumstances because, as those of us who have played the game at any decent level know, when there are only nets, every edge is considered a wicket, and every shot which is played in the air is a wicket for the bowler.
In addition, because most players selected for the Centre Of Excellence are chosen a year in advance, others who missed the cut but whose performance in the interim outstripped those of the original selectees are now left by the wayside. That’s where a test in trial matches can unearth diamonds in the rough.
That said, I must confess that after the selection of the national Under-15, Under-17 and Under-19 teams last weeks, I was bombarded with many calls from all quarters.
Two of the most glaring omissions were Coleridge & Parry’s prolific run-scorer Hasani Newton and all-rounder Roshon Primus, who is now at the Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic, from the Under-17 and Under-19 teams, respectively.
Prior to the selection of the teams, both Newton and Primus had performed with distinction in the Schools’ Under-19 tournament.
Newton, the top batsman in the 2011 LIME Under-15 competition, has already this season scored 103 not out versus Isolation Cavaliers, who were the losing Intermediate finalists last year; an unbeaten 63 versus Lords and 77 not out against Market Hill in the Sagicor Shield while also barely missing a century in the Schools’ Under-19 competition.
Primus followed up a century in the Schools Under-19 competition with a top-order hat-trick against reigning champions Christ Church Foundation and totalled 150 runs in the first three matches of this year’s Division One competition.
On the other hand, a teammate who was selected for the National Under-19 side ahead of him, managed only 35 runs, including four single-digits scores, from the same number of innings.
In fact, an umpire who officiated in the game against Wanderers when Primus made a match-winning 82, told me that if he was omitted “the rest of the batsmen in the side would have to be top-class”. What makes Primus’ situation so mystifying is that he has not even been named among the reserves despite scoring a half-century for Barbados Youth the previous Sunday in the Sagicor T20.
He has now been drafted into the Elite side for the ongoing match against St Catherine, ahead of batsmen who are in the Under-19 side. I will not call names of any of those who have been included, since the youngsters haven’t picked themselves, but the selectors must definitely explain how they arrived at certain decisions.
Questions have also been raised about the omission of Princess Margaret’s wicketkeeper Hakeem Ellis, who has been doing duties for Guardian General Barbados Youth’s Division One side for the past two seasons, and St Leonard’s new ball bowler Shakeel Turney from the Under-17 side.
What about Grantley Adams’ diminutive Zidane Harewood, who won so many awards in the Goddards Schools Division last year?
The non-selection of The Lodge School’s left-arm fast bowling all-rounder Tarik Shorey, who was a reserve in the Under-19 side last year, has also raised eyebrows. His late-blooming fast bowling schoolmate Karrem Drakes is another who would’ve certainly been close to selection for the Under-17 side, had he been given the chance to showcase his ability in a trial match.
Even though it is crystal clear a number of youngsters have been given a raw deal, we must still support those selected and hope that they are victorious, so that the selectors can say, we were right with our choice and the critics, as usual, were wrong to dare question our judgement.