West Indies middle order batsman Kirk Edwards has been named captain of the Barbados team for the Caribbean CT20 2012 which will be played in Antigua and Barbados from January 9–22.
Edwards, who was dropped from the Barbados team for the final T20 match last year, takes over the leadership from Ryan Hinds. The 27-year-old has already been confirmed as the first class captain for 2012, but may not be able to lead the team for the full series as he could be playing for the West Indies against Australia.
Speculation had been rife that Dwayne Smith, who guided West Indies “A” in two matches against Bangladesh, could have been handed the job, while Kenroy Williams, who had been named the 50-Overs skipper, is not in the team.
Conde Riley, head of the Barbados Cricket Association’s (BCA) Cricket Development Committee, said the decision was made to have one leader.
“The board felt we would go for the same person in all three formats of the games. Barbados has always had a history of that. If you look at Ryan Hinds, he captained Barbados in all three formats of the games, so it is not a new thing for Barbados,” Riley told NATIONSPORT.
He does not believe that the added responsibility will affect Edwards’ batting.
“No. No. He was also the Under-19 (vice-) captain and he was also a good batsman. It never affected his game. He was recently the West Indies vice-captain and he seemed to thrive with the added responsibility,” Riley pointed out.
In six Test matches (12 innings), Edwards has scored 595 runs at an average of 54.09 for the West Indies. He scored two centuries – 121 against Bangladesh and 110 against India. He also boasts three half-centuries and scored 171 against England Lions for Barbados “A”.
However, Edwards has limited experience as a captain. He led CGI Maple for half a season, and was one of the four captains in the disastrous revolving door season of 2009 when Jason Haynes, Corey Collymore and Dale Richards all led the team.
Fellow West Indies player Fidel Edwards is also expected to represent Barbados.
Riley, who is also the BCA’s first vice president, said Edwards’ contract in the Australia Big Bash was scheduled to end on January 9 and he had indicated he would be back home.
“Our secretariat is trying to get him to verify that he will be back as he said and that his contract would permit him so to do.”
Barbados lost the final group match of this year’s T20 tournament to eventual champions Trinidad and Tobago here at Kensington Oval. The team recently played a series against Canada, and Riley said that helped sort out the structure of the team and the various combinations.
The team is set to leave Barbados on December 27 for another tournament against the Trinidad and Tobago national team, their “A” team and the junior team.
“After that tournament, they should be well-prepared for the T20. All of that was part of the preparation,” Riley said.
