January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.

Tucker can captain the squad and bat well


By George 'Recman' Holdipp- | Comments: 0 | Leave a comment

Last week the Bermuda Cricket Board announced the thirteen players chosen for the Stanford 20/20 tournament in Antigua.

The team itself contained very few surprises but what most cricket fans have found interesting is that the man who has been leading the team in Clay Smith's absence Janeiro Tucker decided to step down as captain handing over the reins to Bailey's Bay stalwart Irving Romaine.

Romaine who does not presently captain his club side has had experience doing so in the past and to be fair is not exactly new to the Bermuda job, he led the country to the final of the 20/20 Classic held at the National Sports Centre in March of this year.

What is interesting is the reason given by chief selector Arnold Manders for Tucker's relinquishing the job. According to Manders, Tucker and national coach Gus Logie mutually agreed that by giving up the captaincy Janeiro could focus more intently on his own game and thereby enhance his contribution to the team.

Quite frankly this raises numerous questions: Didn't Janeiro play the most significant innings in Bermuda's international cricket history to date, a magnificent century against the United States in last year ICC Trophy competition in Ireland to ensure that Bermuda qualified for the World Cup while leading the team?

Didn't he record the highest individual score on Bermuda's recently concluded tour of England and Guernsey? And is it uncommon for a captain to suffer a loss of form at some time during his time in charge, is stepping down the answer?

Good team

The team itself is not a bad one, Irving, Dean, Janeiro, Saleem, Lionel, Hasan, and 'Sluggo' have proven their worth time and again, they basically form the backbone of Bermuda's national team and barring injury are sure to feature in next year's world cup.

George O'Brien, Delyone Borden, and O J Pitcher I believe are very good prospects and have demonstrated they have the potential to play at international level, however, it will be very interesting to see how Borden and Pitcher in particular make out in the West Indies.

The remaining players Kwame Tucker, Azeem Pitcher and Stefan Kelly desperately need to produce some good performances in order to improve their chances of representing Bermuda in Trinidad next March.

What disappoints me is that players who are performing well week in and week out in domestic cricket have been left completely out of the loop.

For example, Keith Wainwright, Oronde Bascome and Ryan Shepherd have been consistent performers with the bat this season while Dennis Musson, Jaymo Durham and Malachi Jones have taken plenty of wickets with the ball. Don't these guys deserve an opportunity?

As I have said in the past this is where a Bermuda 'A' team would come in handy.

It would have provided such players with the chance to showcase their talents at the international level which would in turn result in keeping those already in the senior national squad 'on their toes'.

The appointment of former Bermuda skipper Albert Steede as a selector on the surface appears to be a good move he has played at the highest level, only recently retired from the game and is a very level headed individual. However, my greatest fear is that he doesn't buy into what appears to be the prevailing view of the men in charge — that there are only a very limited number of players in the island talented enough to play at international level.

A mindset which to be honest is already being demonstrated as we see several players being recycled after failing to make the grade while others who deserve an opportunity are ignored.

I do not believe it is too late for a Bermuda A team to be put in place. Selectors at the end of July could select sixteen players who have the potential to perform at the highest level and organize a short tour to say Florida or the East Coast in early September.

This would provide more players with exposure and allow selectors to 'cast their net wider' — so to speak — when deciding who should represent the island.[[In-content Ad]]

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