BCL invited to Busta trials

In what appears to be an unprecedented move, the Barbados Cricket League (BCL) has been invited to field a team in the Barbados Cricket Association's national trials in preparation for the 2002 Busta Series.

President Glyne St Hill made the disclosure at the BCL's annual club awards ceremony on Friday night and it was confirmed yesterday by BCA consultant Selwyn Smith, who met with St Hill on Thursday.

We plan to work with the BCL to strengthen cricket in Barbados, said Smith, who has day-to-day responsibility for the running of the BCA's secretariat.

The selectors thought it would be a good idea to have a BCL team in the trials. It is a way to make sure that we look at all the possibilities in selecting our team.

The BCL, which was founded in 1936 by the late Mitchie Hewitt, has a rich history of producing several outstanding greats.

They were also a formidable force in the BCA's Division 1 competition in the 1970s and early 1980s, but have struggled badly in the last decade in which they often finished bottom of the table.

This season, however, the BCL Division 1 team has shown improvement, while the Reserve Zone team has surprised all and sundry to move to the top of the table with two rounds of matches remaining.

St Hill welcomed the chance for the BCL to have a presence in one of the four trial matches planned by the BCA.

It is a wonderful opportunity. It is like opening a door, he said.

St Hill said it was likely the BCL would field a youthful unit made up of players from the Division 1 and Reserve Zone teams, along with the best of those in the 66 clubs participating in the domestic competitions.

It will be representative of a true BCL side. We would not be fielding players who are past their best.

The good thing about it is that most of our players in Division 1 and the Reserve Zone are under the age of 25.