The announcement was made by Barbados Cricket Association's (BCA) first vice-president Keith Simmons during last Sunday's presentation ceremony of the Barbados Fire & Commercial Shield final at Queen's Park.

And yesterday BCA president Tony Marshall said a committee headed by former West Indies fast bowler Richard Edwards had been set up to further investigate the subject.

That committee will report to the BCA's Board of Management in December, outlining details about the type of covers needed and the costs.

Only a few weeks ago, Marshall said at the BCA's annual awards ceremony at Kensington Oval that the issue over the introduction of covers was a matter of ``when'' and not ``if''.

Several fans and players welcomed the news, although there were a few who believed covers would make no difference to the standard of the game locally.

``I am glad to hear that covers are coming. It is something that I have been canvassing for some time'' said experienced Empire all-rounder Sherlon Greaves.

``I hope that it can lead to an improvement in the standard of play. There are other things we need to look into, but covers are a start.''

It is not clear what will be done to have the necessary manpower, but Greaves, who has played professionally in England, said it was usually the responsibility of the home team's players and officials.

NATIONSPORT understands that covers are brought on by the fielding team in several competitions in South Africa.

A young Division 1 batsman who preferred to remain anonymous, said covers were needed at this stage.

``There are covers in the St. Vincent club competition, which in no way compares to Barbados','' he said.

He gave his reasons for having covers.

``The most important thing is to have conditions that are favourable for both teams for the entire duration of the match,'' he said.

``It is unfair to have one team batting on a placid strip one day, and the next week the other team gets a 'sticky dog'. That is unfair and it happens very often now.''

One player who believed covers would make no significant difference was YMPC batsman Jerome Gittens.

``You will probably get a little more playing time, but it is not a big thing to me,'' the 23-year-old Gittens said.

``Batting teams will still continue to struggle. Whenever we have hard wickets, many teams make 130 to 140. That has been proven.''