B’dos set to ‘shock, awe’ TT in semi-final

BRIDGETOWN: Left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn and left-arm seam bowler Ian Bradshaw have been left out of Barbados’ team for the semi-final match in  the 2003 Carib Beer International Shield against Trinidad and Tobago at Kensington Oval starting tomorrow.

The lanky 21-year-old Benn is a surprise omission after capturing 27 wickets in seven matches at a commendable average of 19.14 in this year’s Cup competition which Barbados easily won with a whopping 72 points. Benn’s name has also been mentioned among the front-runners for a place on the West Indies team should the regional selectors opt for a specialist spinner in the First Test against Australia on the usually docile Bourda pitch at the Georgetown Cricket Club. Bradshaw, Barbados’ leading fast bowler over the past two seasons, is also unlucky to be omitted after following up his haul of 31 wickets last year with 28 scalps at 20.32 runs apiece in the seven Cup matches. Benn has 92 First-Class wickets in 24 matches at an average of 26.76 while Bradshaw’s 93 First-Class wickets have been taken at an average of 25.67 in 27 matches.

Both Benn and Bradshaw, who are also useful lower order batsmen, were named among the West Indies’ provisional squad of 30 players selected for the just ended 2003 World Cup in South Africa. The two “Bs” have been excluded to make way for fast bowlers Vasbert Drakes and Pedro Collins, who sat out of Barbados’ last match in the Cup competition against the West Indies Under-23 “B” team after returning to the Caribbean from the World Cup in South Africa. Another fast bowler Corey Collymore, who was also in the West Indies World Cup squad, has been named in the Barbados starting line-up as well as the fiery 21-year-old pacer Tino Best. Best is the leading bowler in the Carib Beer Series with 35 wickets at an average of just 16.60 runs for each scalp and an outstanding strike rate of a wicket every 25 balls. Middle order batsman Dwayne Smith has also been retained despite scoring just 205 runs at an average of 25.62 and failing to score a half century in seven matches.

BARBADOS SQUAD: Courtney Browne (captain), Sherwin Campbell, Philo Wallace, Ryan Hinds, Floyd Reifer, Dwayne Smith, Ryan Hurley, Courtney Browne, Vasbert Drakes, Tino Best, Corey Collymore, Pedro Collins. Reserves: Ian Bradshaw, Sulieman Benn.