Barbados national cricket team facts for kids
 |
|
| Personnel | |
|---|---|
| Captain | Kraigg Brathwaite (First class), Shai Hope (List A) |
| Coach | Vasbert Drakes |
| Team information | |
| Colours | Blue, Gold, Black |
| Home ground | Kensington Oval |
| Capacity | 28,000 |
| History | |
| Four Day wins | 23 (plus 1 shared) |
| Super50 Cup wins | 7 (plus 1 shared) |
| CT20 wins | 0 |
The Barbados national cricket team represents the island of Barbados in the exciting sport of cricket. This team is managed by the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA). Barbados is also part of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). This means that Barbadian players can also play for the West Indies cricket team on the international stage.
The Barbados team mostly plays in special competitions within the Caribbean. These include the Professional Cricket League, which has tournaments like the Regional Four Day Competition and the Regional Super50. The team is known as Barbados Pride in these leagues.
Many famous cricketers have come from Barbados. Some of the most well-known include Garry Sobers, Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Malcolm Marshall, Joel Garner, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, and Kemar Roach. These players have made a big impact on cricket history!
Contents
A Look at Cricket History in Barbados
Early Days of Cricket
Cricket has been played in Barbados for a very long time. Records show it was played as early as the late 1700s. In February 1865, Barbados played in what is considered the first ever "first-class" cricket match in the West Indies. They played against Demerara, which is now Guyana. Barbados won that first game!
Later, in 1891, a tournament called the Inter-Colonial Tournament began. Barbados, British Guiana, and Trinidad competed regularly. Barbados was very successful in this tournament, winning it 11 times.
First International Matches
Barbados played its first match against a team from outside the British colonies in 1888. This was against an amateur team from the United States. In the 1890s, English teams also started touring the West Indies.
In 1897, the first West Indies team was formed to play against a touring English team. Three Barbadian players were part of this first West Indies squad. Harold Austin, a Barbadian, later became the first Barbadian to captain the West Indies team in 1902.
Barbadians in Test Cricket
The West Indies team played its first "Test" matches in England in 1928. Five Barbadian players were on that historic team. One of them was 40-year-old George Challenor, who was known as one of the first great West Indian batsmen.
Teddy Hoad was the first Barbadian to captain the West Indies in a Test match. This happened in 1930 at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown. This was also the first Test match ever played in the West Indies! Another Barbadian, Herman Griffith, made history in 1930. He was the first bowler to get the famous Australian batsman Don Bradman out for a "duck" (meaning zero runs) in a Test match.
The "Three Ws" and Sir Garry Sobers
In 1946, two Barbadian batsmen, Clyde Walcott and Frank Worrell, set a huge record. They scored 574 runs together in a partnership against Trinidad. This was a record for first-class cricket!
Walcott, Worrell, and another Barbadian, Everton Weekes, all started playing Test cricket around 1947. They became known as the "three Ws." They were an amazing group of batsmen and were key players for the West Indies from the late 1940s to the late 1950s. All three were later knighted and are considered cricket legends.
Frank Worrell was especially important because he was the first black man to captain the West Indies team in 1960. He was followed as captain by another Barbadian, Garfield Sobers. Sir Garry Sobers set a record in 1958 by scoring 365 runs in one Test innings. This was the highest Test score for 36 years!
Cricket After Independence
Barbados became fully independent in 1966. That same year, the Shell Shield tournament began, bringing back a formal first-class cricket structure. Barbados won the first season!
In 1973, Barbados also won the first edition of what is now the Regional Super50, a shorter, one-day cricket competition. Barbados was a very strong team in the early years of the Shell Shield. They won 12 out of the first 20 tournaments. This included winning five times in a row from 1975 to 1980!
Barbadian players were also a big part of the West Indies teams that won the 1975 and 1979 World Cups. Joel Garner took five wickets in the 1979 final against England. Malcolm Marshall became one of the world's best fast bowlers in the 1980s. He set a record for the most Test wickets by a West Indian bowler.
The opening batsmen for the West Indies throughout the 1980s were Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes, both from Barbados. They played together in 148 innings and scored 6,482 runs. Both of these are records for opening batsmen that still stand today!
Recent Times
In 1998, Barbados and other West Indian teams played individually in the Commonwealth Games cricket tournament in Malaysia. Barbados won two matches but did not make it to the semi-finals.
From 1994 to 2004, the Barbados team continued to dominate domestic first-class cricket, winning six titles. More recently, Jason Holder was appointed Test captain of the West Indies in 2015. He is the most recent Barbadian to lead the West Indies team.
Current Players
Here are some of the players currently in the Barbados cricket squad. Players whose names are in bold have also played for international teams.
| Name | Birth date | Batting style | Bowling style | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batsmen | ||||
| Jonathan Carter | 16 November 1987 | Left-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| Kraigg Brathwaite | 1 December 1992 | Right-handed | Right-arm for spin | First-class Captain and captain of the West Indies in Test cricket |
| Shamarh Brooks | 1 October 1988 | Right-handed | Right-arm leg spin | |
| Shayne Moseley | 11 April 1994 | Left-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| Kjorn Ottley | 9 December 1989 | Left-handed | Right-arm off spin | |
| Nicholas Kirton | 6 May 1998 | Right-handed | - | Plays international cricket for  Canada |
| Leniko Boucher | 13 September 1997 | Right-handed | - | |
| Roshon Primus | 14 August 1995 | Left-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| All-rounders | ||||
| Kyle Mayers | 8 September 1992 | Left-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| Justin Greaves | 26 April 1994 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | Played for West Indies Emerging team in Super50 |
| Shamar Springer | 26 November 1997 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | |
| Jason Holder | 5 November 1991 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | |
| Roston Chase | 22 March 1992 | Right-handed | Right-arm off spin | |
| Wicket-keepers | ||||
| Tevyn Walcott | 25 November 1994 | Right-handed | - | |
| Shane Dowrich | 30 October 1991 | Right-handed | - | |
| Shai Hope | 10 November 1993 | Right-handed | - | List A Captain |
| Spin Bowlers | ||||
| Ashley Nurse | 22 December 1988 | Right-handed | Right-arm off spin | |
| Jomel Warrican | 20 May 1992 | Right-handed | Left-arm orthodox | |
| Joshua Bishop | 30 May 2000 | Right-handed | Left-arm orthodox | |
| Pace Bowlers | ||||
| Chemar Holder | 3 May 1998 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast | |
| Keon Harding | 1 November 1996 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | Played for West Indies Emerging team in Super50 |
| Kemar Roach | 30 June 1988 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast | |
| Miguel Cummins | 5 September 1990 | Left-handed | Right-arm fast | |
| Carlos Brathwaite | 18 July 1988 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | Played for Combined Campuses and Colleges in Super50 |
Source: Regional Four Day Competition, Regional Super50
Cricket Grounds in Barbados
The main cricket ground for Barbados is Kensington Oval in Bridgetown. It can hold 28,000 people! Kensington Oval is the only ground in Barbados that has hosted big international matches. These include Test matches, One Day Internationals, and Twenty20 Internationals. It was even the venue for the final of the 2007 Cricket World Cup.
Many other grounds in Barbados have hosted first-class or List A matches for the Barbados team. Here are some of them:
- Garrison Savannah, Bridgetown (first used in 1865)
- Bay Pasture, Bridgetown (1883)
- Desmond Haynes Oval, Black Rock (1996)
- Windward Park, Lucas Street (2000)
- Mount Gay North Stars Cricket Ground, Crab Hill (2003)
- 3Ws Oval, Cave Hill (2004)
- Banks Sports and Cultural Club, Wildey (2005)
- Cable and Wireless Sports Club Ground, Wildey (2005)
- Police Sports Club Ground, Weymouth (2005)
Barbados Cricket Achievements
The Barbados team has won many championships over the years:
- Regional Four Day Competition (24 wins): 1965–66, 1966–67, 1971–72, 1973–74, 1975–76 (shared), 1976–77, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1990–91, 1994–95, 1996–97, 1998–99, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2006-07, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2019-20, 2021-22
- Domestic one-day competition (8 wins): 1972–73, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1987–88, 2002–03, 2010–11 (shared), 2013-14, 2016-17
- Inter-Colonial Tournament (11 wins, now ended): 1891–92, 1893–94, 1897–98, 1899–1900, 1905–06, 1908–09, 1910–11, 1911–12, 1922–23, 1923–24, 1926–27
Tournament History
Commonwealth Games
The Barbados team participated in the cricket tournament at the 1998 Commonwealth Games.
| Commonwealth Games record | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | GP | W | L | T | NR | ||
 1998 |
Group stage | 6/16 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 0 Title | 1/1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
See also
- Barbados Cricket Association (BCA)
- Barbados Tridents
- List of international cricketers from Barbados
- Sport in Barbados
- List of Barbadian representative cricketers
