Over the years, the scintillating stroke-play of Ahmed Proverbs has been described as audacious and enterprising, and justifiably so
Ezra Stuart07-Nov-2002Over the years, the scintillating stroke-play of Ahmed Proverbs has been described as audacious and enterprising, and justifiably so.His entertaining and exciting batting has won him several admirers when he is on song but has also attracted anguish from fans should he be dismissed, attempting an adventurous stroke.This season, he has enjoyed a purple patch and his cavalier and calypso batting with a typically West Indian flavour, has seen him raise the bar to unprecedented heights as he established a new batting record for the most runs in a Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) Division 1 season.With one series remaining, Proverbs, the BNB St Catherine stroke-making top-order right-handed batsman, has an aggregate of 928 runs at an average of 61.09 and is poised to become the first ever cricketer to score 1 000 runs in the BCA’s Division 1 season."It’s a great feeling. I must say thanks to God for giving me the strength to accomplish this feat and I am happy to have done it," Proverbs said after establishing the record on Sunday.It has been said "practice makes perfect" but remarkably, the 32-year-old Proverbs has not been in the nets this season as work commitments and studies have curtailed his outings to the crease, exclusively to match play on Saturdays and Sundays."I didn’t practise at all this season. It was just work, home and then classes. I have been playing cricket from natural ability and memory," he disclosed."But to do what I’ve done thus far (set the record) means that I always had it in me to do great things because I used to practise in the past," reasoned Proverbs.This accomplishment has been realised in only nine matches as he missed the first two series and was kept indoors during the 11th round when rain washed out his team’s match against Cable & Wireless BET.Since, the BCA became an entity and was fully incorporated in 1933, only two other batsmen, ironically both have ties with St Catherine and Banks, have scoredover 900 runs in a Division 1 season.Hubert "Ellis" Brathwaite amassed 918 runs in the 1983 season for St Catherine and Barry Callender, the previous record holder, scored 919 runs in 1994 for Banks.It should also be noted that during the early days when a Cup Committee ran local cricket and the Division 1 competition was played with "return" and "friendly" matches because of the paucity of teams, two batsmen reportedly scored over 1 000 runs.Pickwick’s batsman P.H. "Tim" Tarilton had an aggregate of 1 084 runs in 1913 at an average of 84 while Wanderers’ George Challenor is credited with having scored 1167 runs at an average of 97.25 in 1920.However, Proverbs’ aggregate remains the most by a batsman in cricket under the auspices of the BCA.He credits experience and patience in batting for this year’s heavy-scoring which has seen him smash centuries (155 and 102 not out) in both innings against Spartan, hammer a career-best 210 versus the Barbados Defence Force Sports Programme and 116 against Pickwick."I am a lot more disciplined as an individual on and off the field," said Proverbs while noting his no-nonsense style of batting is a strategy he has adopted to get on top of the bowling."Maturity counts for a lot and I do believe you should try to rattle the bowlers in the first five to six overs, almost from the time you get to the crease."Let them know you are the person in charge. Be always authoritative as a batsman and you can take your innings from stride to stride and be confident about yourself," Proverbs said.Never too lateProverbs, who batted at either No. 3 or No. 4 for most of his 16 Division 1 innings this season, said his prolific run was not really surprising as "the tracks are now good for batting with the covered pitches"."I always believed I had the potential to score big runs. Unfortunately, I didn’t when I was a lot younger but it is never too late," he remarked.National teanHis prolific batting has led to discussions about whether he should be recalled to the national team or selected on one of the four teams to play a couple of four-day trial matches from which the Barbados squad for next year’s regional first-class championship, will be chosen."If it is a case of picking individuals based on performances this season, I would expect to be there but it is up to the selectors in the final analysis."I love cricket. There is nothing like playing for Barbados but if the chance doesn’t come again, there is nothing I can do," he said.Proverbs has had a chequered career as a Barbados representative, playing five first-class matches with an even 50 being his highest score while he averages 23.75 in six regional limited overs matches in the early 1990s.But the former Garrison Secondary student said a combination of factors resulted in his modest returns."I started among great players like Gordon Greenidge, Malcolm Marshall, Desmond Haynes, Joel Garner and those guys but most of the times, I went into bat, it was a case where we were struggling."I was always an opener or a No. 3 batsman but I would be batting at No. 5 or No. 6, sometimes No. 7. It was hard because you never got the chance to play your true game. You got to stay up and hold an end and that’s not my kind of cricket," Proverbs recalled.Despite his rich vein of form, he said the standard of bowling in the Division 1 competition "wasn’t too bad"."The bowling was relatively good but I find that the young batsmen weren’t concentrating long enough."Everyone in Barbados knows, I score my runs in quick time but the young batsmen need to concentrate more," he said.It’s a lesson, which Proverbs has surely learnt after making his first-class debut as a precocious 20-year-old over a decade ago.