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In the near future cricketers in Barbados will be added to the local association's monthly payroll – for the first time in history. At least 15 cricketers will be paid monthly salaries, as the Barbados Cricket Association's (BCA) objective is to inculcate players of promise with technical, tactical and life skills to excel at the international level and to be a credit to the nation.

The new initiative was among many revealed recently at the launching of the BCA's four-year development plan as the authorities aim to make local cricket strong again.

The BCA intends to develop a year-round retainer programme in which the selected group of players, named Team Barbados, can benefit in all facets of the game and ultimately prosper when called on for higher duty in world cricket.

The plan seeks to expose the players to coaching at basic and senior levels in order to pass on their skills to promising younger players. Additionally, it proposes to provide the chosen players with robust competition through one tour a year.

"We know the time is right to invest heavily in our cricketers," said David Holford, chairman of the BCA's cricket committee. "We are now asking a lot of the players; to have to go to work, then come and give of their best in the middle by playing cricket on a consistent basis.

"So by having these retainer contracts, we want them to spend all year round thinking about the game through all the aspects it (cricket) has to offer," he told NATIONSPORT.

Holford said the players could be chosen from as early as next season, but naturally, like most of the ambitious programmes of the BCA, the project depended heavily on funding.

"We are hoping that both the Government and private sector can assist financially. Plus, we are looking for help from the Leeward Islands Lottery Holding Co. when they start operation here.

"So, if all these `players' come into place, we will be looking to start Team Barbados from as early as next year."

Holford stressed that the initiative was one of the most crucial in the development plan because "it's unreasonable to expect amateurs to compete against professionals and do well".

The selected players will undergo medical tests, fitness tests and drug-testing within the first months of the programme and are expected to benefit from the use of a full-time coach, while they are exposed to the latest in technology through video services.

© The Barbados Nation