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Jury still out after first trial

Stefan Kelly

St George’s XI, 276 for seven, drew with St David’s, 233 for nine. Match abandoned.One trial match down, two to go, and there are still more questions than answers for the St George’s selectors.This year, most, if not all, will centre around the make-up of a bowling attack that could be one of the most potent to come out of the East End for several years.Anyone who thought that George O’Brien, Justin Pitcher and Stefan Kelly would simply get the nod because of who they are is in for surprise. According to head coach Clay Smith those days are gone, and consistency will be the name of the game from now on.Considered an outside option by many, Lateef Trott will force himself into the reckoning if he continues in the form he showed on Saturday. The Bailey’s Bay man took four wickets, helping to reduce St David’s to 186 for nine in a game the Warriors would surely have lost if rain hadn’t intervened.Damali Bell might not have taken any wickets, but he bowled beautifully as well, and deserved far more success than he got. Bell’s inclusion was an added bonus for St George’s, who gave him a run out when Cleveland’s game against Flatts was called off at the last minute.Of the more experienced players, Justin Pitcher has been struggling with the ball for a couple of weeks, and there is a feeling among some in the East End that he is just going through the motions. However, while he didn’t take any wickets on Saturday, he was unbeaten on 50 when the game came to an end prematurely.O’Brien, meanwhile, has been getting wickets, but there is some concern that his fitness might not stand up to two long days of cricket where he would be required to bowl more than five overs in a spell.“That task (picking the bowlers) is going to be tough,” said Smith. “Lateef Trott bowled extremely well, Damali (Bell) looked really sharp, then you talk about Justin Pitcher, George O’Brien . . . Stefan Kelly will be back for the final trial. You have Kyle Hodsoll and Rudell Pitcher who both bowled well, and I was impressed with Kevin Tucker (on Sunday), he looked sharp.“The good thing for us is that we are having three trials, which will give us a chance to have a really good look at these guys and it’s just a matter of who’s consistent. That’s going to be the difference between who gets selected you know.“Gone are the years where players get picked off their name. I don’t believe in politics, I believe in players earning their spots, so it’s really a dogfight as to who gets picked. They will be picked off their performance.”Who will keep wicket could also become an issue, something that would have seemed highly unlikely at the start of the season. Jason Anderson did it last year, but hasn’t been doing the job for club side PHC for the past three or four weeks, while Christian Burgess is being employed as a part-time spinner by St George’s in the Premier Division.Burgess kept wicket in the trial match on Saturday and was less than impressive, although much of that might have been down to rustiness more than anything else.Still it opens up the intriguing possibility that neither will be picked in that position and Chris Foggo, who has done the job in the past, and won the safe hands award for his outstanding catch at the Wellington Oval in 2009, could get the job.Foggo scored an unbeaten half-century in PHC’s crushing win over St George’s yesterday, but failed to show up for the first trial game despite being invited, and that obviously raises questions of its own.What seems likely is that St George’s will pick three bowlers and eight batsmen in their attempt to win the trophy outright. Smith classes spinners Rodney Trott and Delyone Borden as batsmen, however, although given that Trott scored an unbeaten 103 on Saturday that might not be far from the truth.In reality the balance is five bowlers, three quicks and two spinners, six batsmen, and as with the three quicks, past reputations will count for very little.“Bascially for us we look at a lot of factors (in selecting a side),” said Smith. “Players that have performed over recent years, players on current form. For the most part as selectors we’ll meet and decide what type of structure we want, for instance this year we’re looking at taking eight bats with three quicks.“That’s one thing we’re looking at doing, taking the extra bowler. Over the last couple of years we’ve found we’ve been a bowler short, so in the effort of trying to win the cup we’re looking at taking the extra bowler and putting our trust in our eight batsmen to get the job done. Obviously in that eight batsmen you have two or three guys who can bowl as well, so it gives you some sort of balance.”

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