Even as he enjoys the ecstasy of an amazing six-run victory that earned his side the Sagicor General Super Cup, Sagicor UWI’s captain Kyle Corbin is concerned about the overall standard of local cricket.
On Sunday, UWI?collapsed to a disappointing 119 all out in the final at Kensington Oval and then defended the paltry score as Maple buckled under the pressure and folded for 113.
When asked what changes he would like to see in the tournament, Corbin said: “The only thing I would like to see get better is the quality of the cricket itself; to see teams scoring 300 and to see teams chasing them down.
“I think there are too many low scores in the country now. We have good young cricketers in Barbados; it’s just for us as young players to go out there and play good cricket all the time,” he added.
Corbin refused to blame the conditions for the poor batting display by both teams and suggested players may need to look within themselves.
“I don’t think [the pitch] played that much of a part. I think some of the guys threw their hands away. The pitch to me wasn’t that difficult to score on. It was harder to get in, and once you got in, batting became easier in my opinion,” said Corbin.
“Nobody [on either side] capitalized on the starts they got. It was a final. I don’t know if it was pressure or what. I don’t know the circumstances of the individuals, but the pitch didn’t play that big a part in my opinion,” he said.
Corbin was nevertheless proud of what his side had accomplished, emphasizing that there was great belief in their ability to restrict Maple.
“We knew we had to get wickets. We knew the game could not possibly go down to 50 overs. We had to get fielders in the correct position. We had to bowl to our field and we knew we had to stick to a plan,” Corbin said.
“It was some pressure, but the guys showed that our backs are broad and we can go out there and do whatever we say we want to do. We knew it was going to be difficult, but we said we were going to defend the runs and we did it.”
