Image courtesy of: Zimbio
Pollard received support from both Haynes and Sobers
West Indies legends Desmond Haynes and Sir Garfield Sobers have voiced their support for all-rounder Kieron Pollard as captain of the Barbados Tridents franchise just days after protests broke out over his appointment to the leadership position.
The people of Barbados were infuriated after Pollard, who is from Trinidad, was chosen to lead the side during the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) ahead of Barbadians such as Dwayne Smith and Kirk Edwards.
“We are happy to have someone like Pollard as our captain because he is a winner and you can see the results that he has brought to the Mumbai Indians along with Dwayne Smith,” Haynes, who is head coach of the Barbados Tridents, said. “I believe that he is going to help us a lot in this tournament and all I am hoping for at this time is to ask the Barbadian public to come out and support us.”
Sobers believes that having a Trinidadian in charge of the Barbados franchise will in fact increase the friendship and strengthen ties between the two Caribbean nations.
“If you have a Trinidadian playing in Barbados, [that’s okay],” Sobers said. “You can have Trinidadians playing for Barbados, you can have Jamaicans playing for Barbados, you can have Barbadians playing for Jamaica because there are no rules or limit on how much time they have to spend in an island before they play.”
Sobers added that he failed to understand why the people of Barbados were so upset about Pollard leading their country’s franchise.
“If Pollard is playing for Barbados and he is the captain, I don’t see anything wrong with it,” Sobers said. “If it was like the inter-territorial games [in the past] and he was playing for Barbados, well then he became a Barbadian because he was playing for Barbados and that is a similar thing that is happening right now. I don’t see the big argument about it and all the fuss that is being made.”
Pollard’s Tridents team-mate Carlos Brathwaite also put in a good word, stating that he was looking forward to “playing under his captaincy”.
“I’m looking forward to playing under his captaincy,” Brathwaite said. “I played with him a couple times in Trinidad for Queen’s Park and I always enjoyed his company. He was always very encouraging.”