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It's never too late for anything in life.

There were more than enough reasons for Adrian Brathwaite to feel that his time had passed - that he would never play first-class cricket for his country.

Here is someone who had been considered no more than an average club cricketer getting on in age.

Now 30, the Cable & Wireless BET all-rounder was a solid, if not spectacular performer up until last season he emerged as the leading run-scorer in the Courts/Suzuki Division 1 championship.

His 677 runs at the healthy average of 52.07 earned him a call to national trials, but few felt he stood a genuine chance of making the team.

Just prior to the start of the season when the selectors announced a 16-man squad, Brathwaite's name was not among them. Nor was he in the mix-up when they put together a shortlist of 22 on December 10.

It, therefore came as a shock to him when he was told on Sunday night that he was in the Barbados 13 for third round Busta match against the West Indies 'B' starting in Trinidad tomorrow.

Taking all things into consideration, did Brathwaite give up hope that his chances were gone?

'In a sense, yes, because after you don't make the final 16, you figure that you don't stand a chance and that you're out of it. I'm surprised,' Brathwaite said.

The selectors have always emphasised that players who do not make the team at the start of the season should continue attending training sessions.

Only those who feel they will be considered later in the season turn up for those sessions.

Brathwaite was not one of them.

'I have not been practising with the squad,' he said. 'When I got left out of the final 16, I started to play in a tapeball tournament. I was doing quite well in that. Yesterday (Sunday) I scored 93 and I am still happy about my form.'

It's very uncommon for Barbadian cricketers to make their debut at the age of 30 and the oldest capped first-timer in recent times was Maple fast bowler Emmerson Jordan, picked as a 29-year-old in 1989.

Brathwaite, however, does not see the age factor as a negative.

'You have to grasp every opportunity you get,' he said. 'I don't think that age matters. I am going to put the age behind me. I am very surprised to get called up, but nevertheless I will hang in and give 100 per cent.'

© The Barbados Nation