Edwards continues comeback in four-day trial
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) — Fidel Edwards will continue on the comeback trail from injury, when he plays in a national four-day trial match, starting today at the rural St Catherine Club.
The West Indies fast bowler has been named in a 13-member squad that will be led by recent West Indies High Performance Centre captain Shamarh Brooks against a side led by West Indies-A all-rounder Jason Holder.
The 28-year-old Edwards, a veteran of 43 Tests, 50 One-Day Internationals and 12 Twenty20 Internationals, has been sidelined with a worrying back injury since October 14, 2009, after he played for the Deccan Chargers against Trinidad & Tobago in a Champions League T20 match at Hyderabad in India.
This appearance for the Chargers came during a remedial programme, after he was afflicted by the back ailment during the West Indies tour of England at the World T20 Championship in June 2009 in England.
Edwards returned to the playing fields at the end of last year to help his Young Men’s Progressive Club avoid relegation from the Barbados Cricket Association Division One Championship.
He also took part in a one-week training camp in the island, with the West Indies squad before their trip to Sri Lanka also at the end of last year.
Edwards was also drafted late into the Barbados trials squad for the upcoming Caribbean T20 Championship, but did not make the final cut.
West Indies’ bowling attack has been severely depleted with both Edwards and Jerome Taylor sidelined with injury.
Taylor is set to make a return to serious action, when he takes to the field for Jamaica in the CT20, which opens on Monday.
Kemar Roach has diligently carried the burden of responsibility, but he has lacked firepower at the other end, which has allowed opponents to wriggle free from wobbly positions in recent matches.
The Barbados trial match taking place at the club located in the coastal village of Bayfield in the eastern parish of St. Philip is in preparation for the WICB regional first-class championship, which opens on February 1.
