FIDEL?EDWARDS?didn’t?get to celebrate his 32nd birthday on the field last week so the fast bowler is hoping to have a belated birthday party today at Queen’s Park Oval.
The NAGICO Super50 match against Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) scheduled for Thursday at Shaw Park in Tobago was rained out. But Edwards will start against the Leeward Islands today as the Bajans look to remain unbeaten and book a spot in the semi-finals.
“It is very simple for us,” Edwards said. ‘We have to win and we will be trying to win by any means necessary. We have to come hard and stay focused. We need the ‘W’ to make it to the semis so we don’t really worry too much [about] what happens in other matches. We just need to win.”
Having been chosen to open the bowling attack ahead of fellow fast bowler Tino Best, the slimly-built pacer will be looking to improve on his wicketless performance in the opening match against Trinidad and Tobago, against whom he conceded 42 runs from his six overs.
Much will be expected of Edwards, one of Barbados’ most successful bowlers in recent times, along with the rapidly developing Jason Holder, and former West Indies spinner Sulieman Benn, who grabbed four wickets against T&T in the opening contest.
Barbados enter the match on six points – four for the win over T&T and two for the abandoned match against CCC. The Leewards have lost both their matches and most pundits would expect them to slump to their third successive defeat.
However, despite their recent struggles, Barbados will have to be wary of their opponents who have defeated them 18 times in their last 30 meetings. Barbados have won 11 of the remaining 12 games with the other match ending in a tie. Leewards’ coach Ridley Jacobs warned it would be unwise to write off his team, citing last year when their lone victory came against Barbados.
“We came to this tournament with high expectations, but things didn’t quite go the way we planned it. We have this one game left against Barbados and we will look to win this game,” the former West Indies keeper said. “Last year we beat them and we are looking forward to this game. We have to get it right this time around.”
