da prosport bet： Do you remember Gregory Gaskin
Haydn Gill24-Oct-2001Do you remember Gregory Gaskin?He is the former Maple Division I batsman who used to scoreheavily in the Barbados Cricket Association’s (BCA) leadingclub competition about a decade ago.He even once scored a century at national trials and wasregarded by some as a trifle unfortunate not to have playedfor Barbados.The unassuming Gaskin, however, has been in the wildernessfor eight years since opting to turn to the obscurity of theBarbados Cricket League (BCL) competitions.But he still continues to make runs with the same level ofconsistency as when he was one of Maple’s leading batsmen inthe late 1980s and early 1990s.His name has now become commonplace in the weekly BCL scoresthat appear in the Nation’s Tuesday sports pages.And last Friday, he was accepting an award for hisoutstanding 2000 season in which his 750 runs for Shannon inthe Conrad Hunte Division were the most by any batsman inany of the league’s six divisions.It is about hard work. After I left BCA cricket I stillcontinued to train hard in the BCL, the 37-year-old Gaskinsaid. No matter what standard you are playing, you have gotto give of your best. My motto is to give of our best allthe time.Gaskin left the BCA competition in 1993 at a time when hewas still among the leading run-scorers and his decisionmight have come as a surprise to some.I still thought I was good enough to play in the BCA but Iwas trying to make room for youngsters to come through, hesaid.I love playing for my community. That was the biggest reasonfor me moving back to the BCL to play with the fellas that Igrew up with. I get more enjoyment that way.Even in recent years, there were suggestions that he couldplay for the struggling BCL Division I team which would havebenefited from a batsman of his skills and experience.I would like to assist the BCL first division team in anyway I could, he said.He did so for one match at the end of last season when histeam was short of men.But again, I am getting on in age now. To be playing BCADivision I cricket is robbing a youngster of a play. Iprefer to relax in the BCL, Gaskin added.He admits that the standard of cricket in the BCL is not thehighest. But it does not mean anyone can dominate, heemphasised.The standard is a bit low, no two ways about it, Gaskinsaid.The players are not as good. The conditions are not goodeither. The pitches are a lot slower and sometimes you findone or two that are not properly prepared.It is, however, a challenge.I don’t think everybody who is going to run from BCA to BCLwill get runs, Gaskin said. There is a period of adjustment.You still have to apply yourself. There is nothing easyabout it.Anyone who makes a century in national trials these dayswill almost certainly play for Barbados.But Gaskin came at a time when competition for places wasstiff and his hundred in the early 1990s gained him nonational recognition.I don’t really think I was unlucky, Gaskin said. I wasaround good players Sherwin Campbell, Philo Wallace, AdrianGriffith, Floyd Reifer, Roland Holder. All these guys wenton to play Test cricket. I was in good company. Everybodycan’t play.He gets his satisfaction from playing in the BCL and winningawards annually.