BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Kirk Edwards drew on his rich vein of form to craft his second first-class hundred, and lead Barbados’ batting in the WICB Regional first-class championship against England Lions yesterday.
Edwards was undefeated on 126, as the Barbadians, choosing to bat on a hard, true Kensington Oval pitch, reached 276 for two in their first innings at the close on the opening day of their second round match.
Barbados captain Ryan Hinds propped-up the batting with an unbeaten 80, and teenaged opener Kraigg Brathwaite, a century-maker in the first round against Trinidad & Tobago, made 43. The 26-year-old Edwards, one of three reserves for the West Indies’ World Cup squad, reached his milestone from 233 balls, when he lofted left-arm spinner Danny Briggs over long-off for his only six. He and Hinds, whose 50 came from 108 balls, with a single to mid-off off Maurice Chambers, have added 176 – unbroken – for the third wicket. The Barbadians suffered an early setback, when Dale Richards was caught behind off Liam Plunkett for five in the second over. But Edwards came to the crease, and knuckled down to carry Barbados to lunch on 89 for one in tandem with Brathwaite.
After the interval, the two Barbados batsmen settled down, and continued batting merrily until Brathwaite was deceived by a slower delivery from Jade Dernbach, and gave a return catch. Edwards reached his 50 from 120 balls, when he drove James Harris to cover for a single, and for the remainder of the day, it was all one-way traffic, with Hinds joining him to grind the Lions’ bowlers.
The match marks the return of West Indies fast bowler Fidel Edwards to top-level play. He replaces fellow fast bowler Tino Best, as the only change to the Barbados line-up, ending a 15-month spell on the sidelines recovering from career-threatening back injury, which required surgery. Best has been dropped, following an incident during a practice session earlier in the week, when he reportedly expressed concern with some of the physical drills, and left the training ground prematurely. The Lions have made three changes, with Andrew Gale, Liam Plunkett, and Maurice Chambers coming into the line-up in place of Ravi Bopara, Ben Stokes, and Nathan Buck.
Bopara has left the tour to join the England squad at the World Cup to be co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. Barbados are seventh in the eight-team Championship with three points, after they conceded first innings points following a draw in the opening match against Trinidad & Tobago at Guaracara Park in south Trinidad.
The Lions are co-leaders with the Combined Campuses & Colleges and three-time defending champions Jamaica on 12 points, following an innings and 120 runs victory over Leeward Islands at Warner Park in St. Kitts.
