BRIDGETOWN, Barbados,  CMC – Former West Indies youth captain Shamarh Brooks stroked an unbeaten half century Monday to highlight the start of the latest Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) trial match to select the squad for the upcoming West Indies first-class season.

The in-form 21-year-old Brooks played a captain’s innings of 66 not out in leading his side to 222 for five against the Ryan Hinds XI at Queen’s Park.

He have faced 150 balls and his innings has so far contained four fours and one six.

Brooks, who have played seven first-class matches and captained West Indies to the ICC Under-19 Youth World Cup in Malaysia last year, stroked 142 for Spartan against LIME in a local Division One match this past weekend.

Big-hitting opener Martin Nurse also registered a half-century on Monday, scoring 53 with seven boundaries before being run-out.

West Indies opener Dale Richards, the next highest scorer with 32, was also run-out and wicket-keeper/batsman Patrick Browne (29 not out) has so far added 68 for the sixth wicket with Brooks.

Bowling for the Hinds XI, all-rounder Kevin Stoute has taken two for 16 off 12 overs with his medium pace and pacer Marlon Franklyn (1-49) is the other successful bowler.

When the new-look WICB Regional Four-Day competition starts on January 8 with three matches in Jamaica, Barbados will open against the Leeward Islands while Jamaica play the Windward Islands and Trinidad and Tobago face Combined Campuses and Colleges.