Bridgetown, Barbados, May 6 – (www.bcacricket.org) - Out-of-favour West Indies left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn is in the Super Centre Spartan team for the start of the 2011 Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) LIME Division 1 championship on Saturday, May 7.

The gangling, 29-year-old Benn has been overlooked by the regional selectors for the current home series against Pakistan despite being the second highest West Indies wicket-taker with 12 scalps – just one behind fellow Barbadian, fast bowler Kemar Roach – in the recent ICC World Cup in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Duties with the West Indies team since his international debut in 2008 have limited Benn to just 11 Division 1 matches in the last three seasons for the popular City club during which he took 55 wickets.

With three more teams in the now 12-team championship to be demoted to the Upper Intermediate division in the third season of promotion and relegation, Spartan, the joint title holders with Sagicor Life University of the West Indies (UWI), are sure to embrace Benn warmly.

Jabbar Niles’ team will be on home turf at Queen’s Park against ESA Field Pickwick, who desperately struggled to avoid relegation last year and eventually finished eighth on exactly 100 points after being fourth from the bottom of the table after the 10th series. Pickwick gained a whopping 41 points in their last three matches as Wanderers, Police and Old Brigand Dover were demoted.

Barbados fast bowler Tino Best, also seeking a recall to the West Indies side, is in the Pickwick team, to be again led by veteran batsman Rondelle Yearwood, who once had a reputation as one of the best local club wicket-keepers.

Pickwick have been boosted by two new players to the Foursquare Oval-based club in the unrelated Phillips’ whose first names are almost identical – Jamar and Jamal.

Jamar Phillips is a batting all-rounder who comes over from Dover after a few seasons with the Barbados Cricket League (BCL), who were demoted after the 2009 season, while Jamal Phillips is a medium-pacer who had limited success after two seasons at Banks.

UWI will travel further west to Trents for an appointment with CGI Maple, who have a new captain in oldstager Pedro Agard, an all-rounder in every sense of the word, and who will be playing his 24th straight season at this level.

Agard, known for most of his career as a solid batsman and medium-pace bowler but who later kept wicket effectively as well, has skippered Maple at one time or another in his long career. He was at the helm when the St. James team won its only Division 1 title in 1992.

Again led by first-class opening batsman Omar Phillips, UWI will be without Nekoli Parris, one of their main batsmen for the last four seasons.

After he was surprisingly dropped for the crucial last round Division 1 match against Guardian General Barbados Youth last year, the elegant Parris has joined YMPC.

Apart from Agard, there are a few other new captains. Carlos Brathwaite, who had a fine all-rounder debut first-class season for Combined Campuses & Colleges, is at the helm of Banks; another all-rounder Khalid Springer is in charge of TeleBarbados Carlton and batsman Shamar Cooke is leading YMPC.

New Barbados first-class batting all-rounder Roston Chase, who had a solid season with bat and ball for Barbados Youth last year, has joined Banks.

Another recruit in the Banks team is left-hand opening batsman Shanaldo Taylor, who played for Oran/Carib Bristol in 2009 when they were demoted and Dover last year.

LIME will be without two of their top players in new West Indies Twenty20 cap, off-spinner Ashley Nurse and hard-working Barbados fast bowler Corey Edwards.

Nurse is playing club cricket in Trinidad which has also attracted a couple players from ICBL Empire, while Edwards, unquestionably the most successful First division fast bowler in the last three seasons with 137 wickets including 61 in 2009, is playing professionally in Ireland.

Noted Empire players missing on overseas duties are Barbados representatives – all-rounder Kevin Stoute, batsman Alcindo Holder and fast bowling all-rounder Javon Searles, while experienced batsman Jason Parris is unavailable.

In the Empire side is former Barbados Youth and West Indies Under-19 team left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican.

Warrican, however, like talented fast bowler Rachid O’Neale of promoted Barbados Defence Force Sports Programme (BDFSP), will both be leaving the island next month for England on contracts organised by the BCA.

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FIRST ROUND MATCHES

Matches: BDFSP v Guardian General Barbados Youth at Paragon; ICBL Empire v Banks at Bank Hall; Super Centre Spartan v ESA Field Pickwick at Queen’s Park; TeleBarbados Carlton v LIME at Desmond Haynes Oval; CGI Maple v Sagicor Life UWI at Trents; YMPC v BNB St. Catherine at Beckles Road.

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TEAMS

BDFSP (from) – Devon Phillips (captain), Renaldo Brathwaite, Athelbert Brathwaite, Jamal Gill, Kareem Currency, Larando Best, Jamar Antoine A. Layne, Renaldo Griffith, Kemar Stanford, Randall Hoyte, Miguel Cummins, Rachid O’Neale, Andre Roach, Ravendra Persaud, Antonio Greenidge, Haroon Austin. Manager: To be appointed; Coach: Alvin Greenidge.

Guardian General Barbados Youth – Mario Rampersaud (captain), Shane Parris, Neil Browne (SJPP), Craig St. Hill (Queen’s College), Akeem Springer (St. Leonard’s), Kemar Brathwaite (Garrison), Jonathan Drakes, Justin Greaves, Chaim Holder (Combermere), Daniel Rogers (Community College), Jerome Jones (Foundation). Manager: Livingstone Coppin; Coach: Livingstone Puckerin.

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ICBL Empire – Jamal Smith (captain), Jason Haynes (vice-captain), Ryan Hinds, Jason Hinds, Seth Holder, Rico Wiggins, Shawn Graham, Jomel Warrican, Jared Bernadin, Lemar Mascoll, Jabari Mascoll. Manager: Winston Dowrich; Coach: Robin Parris.

Banks (from) – Carlos Brathwaite (captain), Kofie Hurdle (vice-captain), Keegan Alleyne, Sherwin Campbell, Roston Chase, Tariq Hoyte, Shadd Simmons, Ramon Sealy, Renaldo Holder, David Carter, Shanaldo Taylor, Ankoma Phillips. Manager: Dale Callender; Coach: Sherwin Campbell.

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Super Centre Spartan (from) – Jabbar Niles (captain), Rashidi Boucher, Chioke Payne, Dadrian Forde, Rohan Nurse, Sulieman Benn, Andre Gill, Andre Marshall, Nicholas Carter, Dario Marshall, Jason Bennett, Hugh Husbands, Kenroy Lewis, Marrodon Bend. Manager: Richard Lorde; Coach: Dave Marshall.

ESA Field Pickwick – Rondelle Yearwood (captain), Kyle Hope (vice-captain), Clint St. Hill, Ryan Layne, Tino Best, Jamal Phillips, Rascelle Gittens, Jamar Phillips, Rasheed Edwin, Jade Padmore, Jamar Yearwood. Manager: Tony Latchman; Coach: Corey Yearwood.

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TeleBarbados Carlton – Khalid Springer (captain), Dale Richards, Dario Vaughan, Marlon Graham, Vonrick Nurse, Krisnan Hurdle, Kyle Mayers, Kevin Ramsay, Jamel Noel, Amal Nurse, Shawn Boyce. Manager: Wayne Springer; Coach: Shirley Clarke.

LIME – Courtney Browne (captain), Cyprian Payne, Kevon Beckles, Ron Bates, Randy Thomas, Dario Cummins, Brian Johnson, Nikolai Charles, Nicholas Brathwaite, Jeremy Marshall, Mark Springer. Manager: To be appointed; Coach: Sherlon Greaves.

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CGI Maple (from) – Pedro Agard (captain), Barrington Yearwood jr (vice-captain), Renaldo Parris, Collis Worrell, Mario Albert, Orman Kellman, Shane Ramsay, Kirk Brome, Kevin Payne, Ezra O’Neale, Theo Greaves, Jason Worrell, Jamar Austin. Manager: Barrington Yearwood sr; Coach: Hendy Bryan.

Sagicor Life UWI (from) – Omar Phillips (captain), Ryan Austin, Miles Bascombe, Jonathan Carter, Marques Clarke, Romel Currency, Mario Miller, Gilford Moore, Simon Naitram, Raymon Reifer, Floyd Reifer, Liam Sebastien. Manager: Steven R. Leslie; Coach: Floyd Reifer.

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YMPC – Shamar Cooke (captain), Jed Yearwood, Steven Blackett, Nekoli Parris, Ryan Wiggins, Calvin Watson, Kemal Smith, Matthew King, Tennyson Anthony Roach, Francois Hurley, Liu Ross. Manager: Edsil Cooke; Coach: Dale Ellcock.

BNB St. Catherine – Derick Bishop (captain), Ronaldo Kellman, Chad Proverbs, Kenroy Williams, Ulric Batson, Patrick Browne, Joel M. Leacock, Stefan Gooding, Marlon Franklyn, Chad Puckerin, Michael Holder. Manager: Lionel Blades; Coach: Thelston Payne.