THE BARBADOS Cricket Association (BCA) has opened the door for the schools to return to the Sagicor General T20 Cricket Competition after boycotting the first two rounds last weekend.
The schools did not participate after the BCA instituted a rule which said if a player from a school team was selected to represent the Guardian General Barbados Youth team in the top BCA competitions but the player instead opted to play for his school, all points gained by that school would be forfeited.
However, the BCA has now ruled that both Christ Church Foundation School and Combermere School can pick their best teams for the limited overs competitions, allowing the best players to be available for the Elite Division. Players from those schools won’t be selected for the Youth team in Division One. Â
The statement appears in full below:
The Board of Management of the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) met on Monday May 18th 2015 at its scheduled meeting and discussed at length the issues and concerns surrounding the impasse in schools’ cricket between the Association and the Barbados Principals of Public Secondary schools (BAPPSS) that led to the boycott of the first two games in the Sagicor General T20 Competition as well as the competitions involving school cricketers throughout the island.
The Board of the Barbados Cricket Association considers that its primary role and responsibility in the current dispute is a determination of what is best for the hundreds of young persons who seek to attain their respective places at the highest levels in local, regional and international cricket.
The Board has therefore always held the view that the Guardian General Barbados Youth Team participating in the Elite Division of the BCA’s Competition should be made up of the best players from all schools and from other eligible youth in the island.
The Board also decided that the team to represent the Guardian General Barbados Youth would be chosen on Tuesdays and communicated to all schools on Wednesday mornings.
In coming to this decision, the Board was mindful that members of the Guardian General Barbados Youth teams have traditionally formed the nucleus of the national teams performing in the Regional Under-19 competitions and that some of the said players have gone on to represent the West Indies Under-19 internationally with significant success.
In addition, it is important to note that a significant number of players chosen to represent Barbados and ultimately the West Indies have honed their skills, in a major way, through their selection to and participation in the Guardian General Barbados Youth teams.
Players such as Kemar Roach, Sulieman Benn, Kirk Edwards, Dwayne Smith, Omar Phillips, Ashley Nurse, Jonathan Carter, Jason Holder and Kraigg Brathwaite are but a few of those young men who have been true ambassadors for Barbados.
Indeed other players who have represented the Guardian General Barbados Youth have also represented the Combined Campuses and Colleges in the West Indies senior regional tournament.
It should also be noted that one of the players, Raymon Reifer, who was drafted into the 2014 Guyana franchise team which won this year’s 4-day Regional Professional Cricket League Competition is a product of the Guardian General Barbados Youth. Many other graduates of the Guardian General Barbados Youth also played in the Barbados National team which placed second in this year’s PCL tournament.
The selection of Kraigg Brathwaite, Jason Holder, Shane Dowrich and Roston Chase to the Barbados Senior team directly from the Guardian General Barbados Youth set-up, is further testimony to the success of the Guardian General Barbados Youth programme as these players have benefitted significantly from the exposure at the highest level in the Domestic competition.
The Directors of the Board of the BCA also reviewed the position of the teams playing in the Sagicor General T20 and 50 Overs competitions and after giving due consideration to the teams playing in these competitions decided as follows:
* The two schools playing in these competitions viz. Christ Church Foundation and Combermere may choose their teams from all of their available players and hence no players from those two schools will be chosen to represent the Guardian General Youth Team in these competitions.
* The current regulation [18 (b)(iv)] which allows Schools to be represented by a maximum of three (3) masters or members of staff in any one match has been maintained.
* The team to represent the Barbados Youth in the First Division would be selected from players from all Schools except Combermere and Foundation. This team would also be selected on Tuesdays and forwarded to the Schools at the same time as the Elite team.
The Board of Management of the BCA deeply regrets the failure of the schools to participate in the first two rounds of the 2015 Sagicor General T20 competition and the other competitions administered by the BCA over the last weekend but eagerly looks forward to the schools participating in all upcoming matches. (PR/SAT)
