Two young national cricketers emphasised the importance of support and mentorship, acknowledging the role of former Barbados captain Carlisle Best in their success against Trinidad and Tobago at Kensington Oval last weekend.
When Ashley Nurse completed his maiden first-class century on Saturday, a knock in which he remained unbeaten on 130, he acknowledged the contribution of Best, a former West Indies batsman and Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation commentator, by pointing his raised bat in the direction of the media centre.
“I want to thank him for talking to me and Carlos through the innings,” Nurse told MIDWEEKSPORT following the match in which he also captured six wickets and took four catches, including one off his own bowling.
“It’s nice to see a legend in cricket in Barbados cheer you on and help you to keep focus. I raised my bat to him yesterday but I just want to make it official,” Nurse said.
Carlos Brathwaite, who made 109 and with Nurse put on 190 runs for the eighth wicket, was also highly appreciative of the support offered by Best.
“When I first came out to bat he was basically saying, be supportive of Shane (Dowrich), get through the evening and then he really came into full flow yesterday when we came back out, myself and Shane.
“After Shane got out he was even more vocal when Ashley came in. He basically told Ashley to play the supporting role for [me].
“After the start that Ashley had and the momentum that he had, then he quickly told me, well, you know it’s your time to support and he basically walked us through both of our innings, giving each one of us support from either end,” Brathwaite said of Best, who shouted his comments from the area just underneath the media centre, located at the southern end of the ground.
Best, speaking after the comments from Nurse and Brathwaite, was deeply moved by the appreciation shown by the two young cricketers.
“It just shows that the right messaging system, the right message alerts are needed,” Best said.
“It was not only about beating Trinidad and Tobago that I was thinking about, but helping players to manage their abilities which allow them to produce and achieve high performance targets,” Best explained.
The former West Indies batsman said he had developed a batting psychology programme and a performance management system.
“I am sure that I could be of use not only to the Barbados team, but also the West Indies team,” said Best.
