BACK in 2013 when Trinidadian Kieron Pollard was named captain of the Barbados Tridents, the appointment did not go down well with some.From the man on the street to the halls of government, having a Trinidadian lead a franchise from Barbados was hard for some to swallow.
“I have a great difficulty with a Trinidadian captaining the Barbados franchise in the upcoming CPL,” declared Hamilton Lashley, a former minister of social transformation in Barbados in echoing a sentiment shared by many on his island.
“They have retained the name Barbados, so I believe a Barbadian like (Dwayne) Smith or (Kirk) Edwards should be captain. I feel it is fundamentally and psychologically wrong. It affects the psyche of some Barbadians.”
Over the past three years however, success have brought with it something of a turnaround in public sentiment. Pollard led the Tridents to the CPL title in 2014 and to the finals last year where they lost to the then Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel and are now more widely embraced than he was just three years ago.
“It’s just winning. Had I gone there and didn’t win matches it would have been totally different,” the towering Trinidadian said while responding to questions at a press conference at Sabina Park, Tuesday, the eve of the Tridents crucial match up against the red-hot Jamaica Tallawahs on Wednesday night.
“There is still a lot of talk around but we have been alluding to the fact that this is franchise cricket. At the end of the day there is the regional tournament, the 50-over tournament and the four-day tournament which is country – Jamaica versus whoever, Trinidad versus whoever but this is franchise cricket, people from all different nations coming together in one team to win and it’s about winning.”
He used to opportunity call for an end to insularity that have helped define relationships in the regional. “It’s not about who is from where. If one of your better players selected is from Trinidad or Jamaica then so be it,” Pollard said.
“We in the Caribbean need to get rid of this insular attitude. It’s about West Indies cricket and it’s about winning games and what is important is winning cricket matches. What is important for the world to see is that the West Indian population is together as one in order for West Indies cricket to go forward.
“If we continue with this ‘he can’t captain because he is from a different country’ then we will stay exactly where we are right now which is number nine (in the world) and we’ll go no further.”

(Sportsmax.com)