The?report card?on Barbados’ dismal performance in the 2013 Caribbean Twenty20 cricket tournament which ends in St Lucia tonight is unflattering.
Dwayne Smith’s side, which returned home early Friday, got a failing grade from head coach Emmerson Trotman.
Trotman, also a former Ireland coach and professional cricketer in South Africa, highlighted the lack of application, coping with pressure and understanding of T20 cricket as the causes of Barbados’ downfall.
He also said early planning and preparation were required for participation by the national senior team in any regional competition.
Trotman said the players were very keen about their chances in the tournament after winning the first two games against the Leeward Islands and Jamaica but then the team’s fortunes drastically changed, with several mistakes by the batsmen.
“The batting approach of the guys . . . they didn’t adapt well under pressure. The pitches [in Trinidad] were difficult but you had to apply yourself and work hard on them, which we never did,” the coach lamented.
“They built pressure on themselves and found it difficult to manage themselves under pressure.”
Trotman was extremely disappointed that Barbados were unable to beat both Guyana and the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) after chasing modest totals of 108 and 111 for victory, respectively. Barbados crashed for a record low 66 against the Guyanese and were restricted to 99 for nine by CCC.
“This Barbados team is good enough to make those totals but we kept losing wickets continuously with poor shot selection,” he noted.
However, he didn’t lay the blame solely on captain Dwayne Smith and senior batsmen Ryan Hinds and Jonathan Carter, none of whom individually tallied 50 runs and all had averages of less than ten runs an innings. Rookie opener Justin Barthwaite led Barbados’ batting with 104 runs, the only Bajan to pass the 100-run mark.
“While I expected the senior players to come to the fore, I’m not going to blame the senior players only because each and every one of the players who were chosen as batsmen could bat. They had the opportunity to apply themselves but didn’t,” he said.
Trotman also defended the decision to drop both Hinds and Carter for the vital game against two-time champions Trinidad and Tobago and replace them with two fast bowlers in Fidel Edwards and Javon Searles.
“Yes, the bowlers were doing their job but Searles is a very useful all-rounder who bats well also,” he said.
“He is not really in the class of those two players [Hinds and Carter] but at that stage, the guys weren’t getting runs and something had to be done and the selection panel decided to go that route.
“It was a difficult choice and could be an error of judgment but we backed Javon as he was batting well at practice.”
The coach attributed the losses in the last four matches on the trot – with the final blow against the Windward Islands Thursday night at the Beausejour Cricket Ground when Barbados posted their highest total of 140 for seven – to lack of knowledge of the T20 format.
“It is a question of the guys putting their heads down and understanding the game. They don’t seem to understand T20 cricket, how it is being played. I think we need to have a lot more competitive T20 cricket before we go to play T20 tournaments,” he suggested.
Trotman, however, said he sympathized with the fans, who were unhappy with the display from the Barbadian cricketers, who are yet to win the Caribbean T20.
“As life goes on, I can understand the heartbreak of the critics. Positive criticism can be quite helpful and there is no reason not to listen but you can’t only criticize the players.
“The coaches and management team [have] also got to take some of the blame but people who are not there, obviously judge from a distance and 95 per cent of the time, they are incorrect,” Trotman contended.
