Pride to take on Volcanoes tomorrow

Barbados Pride will be seeking their second consecutive victory when they meet the Windward Islands Volcanoes in their sixth round match of the Cricket West Indies Championships at Kensington Oval tomorrow.

The home team is currently third in the tournament while their opponents are holding down the fourth position. Barbados Pride are under the captaincy of Jonathan Carter who has taken over the leadership of the team due to the appointed captain Shamarh Brooks being included in the West Indies squad for the Test series against England. The Pride won their last match against Trinidad and Tobago Red Force by seven wickets, while the Volcanoes lost to Jamaica Scorpions by four wickets.

“It’s always good to win at home, therefore we are hoping to continue our winning ways in this match against the Volcanoes. We have a very young team, our two most experienced players are Kevin Stoute and myself, be that as it may, we still have cricket to play. I have been instilling in the guys that even though they must apply the basics, they still have to enjoy the game whether they are batting, bowling or fielding,” Carter told Barbados TODAY.

The captain said he did not expect his teammates to place themselves under pressure while on the field.

“If a mistake is made what is done is done, we got to learn from that error and improve on it, our goal is to play to the best of our ability and try to be victorious in the rest of our matches,” Carter said.

He described his team’s defeat of Trinidad and Tobago Red Force as a fantastic one that filled him with great pride.

“It was really remarkable for the guys to pull off such a fantastic performance, special credit goes to the bowlers, especially Kevin (Stoute) who was playing in his first game after not being selected for the first four matches of the season. It was my first game as captain, therefore it was special for me. It was very heartwarming to have this first victory under my belt, I am looking forward to doing the same thing on home soil against the Windward Islands Hurricanes in the next couple of days,” Carter said.

The veteran left-handed batsman said it was a privilege to lead the national team which was something every young cricketer aspired to do and he was enjoying his new role.

“It is something that I enjoy, a job that I always wanted to do. My good friend Shamarh (Brooks) was always consulting me when he had decisions to be made. I guess it is every youngster’s dream to captain Barbados. The job of leading Barbados Pride is something I have aspired to, ever since I became captain of the UWI team last season. Leading the UWI allowed me to hone my skills,  I wish to thank Floyd Reifer and the rest of the coaching and management unit at the university for giving me that opportunity to showcase my leadership skills,” Carter said.

Carter who has played 28 One Day Internationals (ODIs) said he still has the desire to play in the limited overs version of the game.

“The thought of playing for the West Indies is always there, I am training and working hard, all I need is to be consistent with the bat,” the stroke-player said

Last year, Carter scored the most runs in the Super50 tournament which he said was deliberately done and disclosed it was his intention to finish on top in the regional first-class competition.

“I did a lot of work in preparation for that tournament in the nets at the UWI. This first-class season it also is about finishing on top with the most runs again. I have not got a century as yet but I know that I am quite capable of scoring big hundreds which is something I always tell myself each time I go out to bat. There is still a lot of first-class cricket to be played this season, and I will be taking it step by step,” Carter said.