(CMC) – EARLY preparation, a desire to win and above all else, fitness, president of Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) Conde Riley says are responsible for the success of champions-in-waiting Barbados Pride in the Regional four-day competition.
In fact, Riley referred to the squad as the region’s “fittest team”, and said the men had put in the necessary work.

Although the championship has been suspended with two more rounds left, due to the Coronavirus pandemic that has affected the region, Pride ended the eighth round on 134.8 points, giving them an unassailable lead.

“Once we are fully fit and we have all our players available, we would be a hard unit to overcome. But I think the key was fitness. It’s a supremely fit team,” Riley said on the Mason & Guest radio show here.

“For the last two years we have been the fittest team in the Caribbean. The guys pay a lot of attention to that and they prepared very well.”

The BCA boss said the squad had been practising from day one of their contract and with the assistance of the coaching staff, had made sure they were ready to defeat five-time defending champions Guyana Jaguars in the 10-round West Indies Championship.
“We worked hard and they wanted to win. Having won all the junior competitions in the region over the last two years, they felt that this was the time to do it,” Riley said.
Pride won six of their eight matches. They are 40.2 points ahead of Trinidad and Tobago Red Force who are on 94.6 points.

Jaguars and Jamaica Scorpions share third place on 91.8 points, followed by Leeward Islands Hurricanes on 78 points, and Windward Islands Volcanoes at the bottom of the six-team standings with 52.5 points.
Two rounds are left to be played in the championship when it resumes and teams can collect a maximum of 48 points.