Barbados and West Indies cricket icons The Most Honourable Desmond Haynes and Joel Garner are expected to form part of the Barbados Pride’s think tank ahead of the upcoming CG United Super50 tournament in Trinidad and Tobago.
MIDWEEK SPORT has been reliably informed that the Barbados team’s hierarchy has reached out to the legendary duo to join the camp and provide their “wisdom, knowledge and vast experience” as the team gets set for the 50-over event slated for the second half of November in Trinidad.
Garner, a giant fast bowler, and Haynes, a superb opening batsman, rank among the greatest players of all time. They were members of the all-conquering West Indies team of the 1970s and 80s and were Cricket World Cup winners in 1979.
Discussions are also being held with several other former Test players to share their “expertise and skills to help upskill the players” as part of the build-up, sources have confirmed.
The discussions are being held and from there the recommendations will be then sent to the Barbados Cricket Association’s (BCA) board of directors for final approval.
The Barbados players are presently engaged in the Legends Cup One-Day competition at Kensington Oval. The final match will be played tomorrow.
After that, the team will be selected to represent the country. They will start training from early next week at the Oval and travel to Trinidad on November 12. During the training camp they will have match simulations under lights to enhance their readiness for the day/night matches in foreign conditions.
Cricket West Indies (CWI) is expected to soon announce the detailed itinerary for the tournament which will feature the six territorial teams – Barbados Pride, Guyana Harpy Eagles, Jamaica Scorpions, Leeward Islands Hurricanes, Trinidad and Tobago Red Force and Windward Islands Volcanoes.
Meanwhile, the BCA’s board will meet soon to name the captain. Three candidates are being looked at – Kraigg Brathwaite the experienced opening batsman; Kevin Wickham, the classy middle-order batsman; and Kyle Mayers, the ambidextrous all-rounder.
The need to meet on the matter has come about as West Indies white ball captain Shai Hope was expected to be the Barbados captain. However, he will be away on West Indies duty during the upcoming tours of Bangladesh and New Zealand. Two other candidates: Roston Chase, the Test skipper; and Jomel Warrican, the Test vice captain, will also be on international duty. Last year’s captain, Raymon Reifer, has been away from the island for a while and is not expected to feature in this year’s tournament.
Brathwaite is a former West Indies Test captain who was dropped for the upcoming tours. He played his 100th Test match in July. Earlier this year he was the Barbados Pride captain during the regional four-day first-class competition. Wickham was Brathwaite’s vice captain during the four-day competition. Mayers recently made a comeback to West Indies colours in the T20 International series against Nepal at the Sharjah International Cricket Stadium.
Barbados Pride will seek to back-up their impressive showing from last year’s tournament when they reached the final. However, the match against Jamaica Scorpions, scheduled for Brian Cricket Academy in south Trinidad was not played on November 23, 2024. Controversy developed and CWI announced that, at a meeting of the Code of Conduct and Disciplinary Tribunal on Friday, April 4, 2025, the four-match suspension previously imposed on Jamaica Scorpions captain John Campbell had been officially withdrawn.
The tribunal was convened to hear the case involving Barbados Pride captain Reifer, in respect of a charge relating to his conduct at the final. During the proceedings, the Tribunal took the view that the procedure of bringing the charge was flawed and the matter therefore could not be heard. While the matter involving Campbell was not before the Tribunal, the issues raised during Reifer’s hearing informed CWI’s decision to withdraw the charges against Campbell. In its statement back then CWI outlined “it is important to note, the view is not pertaining to the merit of the charge but rather the process of the charge being laid”.
