Dear Editor,
As President of the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) and a senior executive of the Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA) I would like to place on record my displeasure and disappointment with the non-selection of Christopher Barnwell in the Guyana national team for the upcoming regional first-class season.
Barnwell is an outstanding opening batsman and bowler for Guyana and arguably the best all-rounder in Guyana in all forms of the game. Further evidence of his performance was the WICB consideration of his possible selection to the team for the Digicel home series against Bangladesh in August. It is incomprehensible what could have gone wrong in such a short period not to merit selection to the Guyana team.
A quick perusal of his performance history for this year for Guyana in the regional competition 2009 season, reveals that he played 9 matches, scored 394 runs with the highest score being 57 (2-50s) at an average of 24.62. His bowling stats for the similar period show that he took 14 wickets at an average of 42.35, his economy rate being 3.61, with one 5-wicket haul.
The inter-county tournament which was used as a basis for selection saw him score 175 runs with a highest score of 85 at an average of 35.
In addition, he is one of the better performers of the current GCB first division cup. This 22-year-old Guyana player is always raising the level of his game and is known for taking on bowlers.
Taking the above into consideration, it is beyond me how he was not selected to the Guyana 13-man team for 2010. The action by the selectors can fracture the confidence of the young man who is driven by the love of the game, and can further stall the development of our cricket. The same could be said of Leon Johnson, who a year ago was playing in the West Indies colours and can’t even find a place in the Guyana team today.
Leon represented Guyana at the Under-19 and West Indies Under-19 with distinction. It should be mentioned that he was the West Indies junior captain and was performing well. How is it that this player cannot make the Guyana 21 shortlist? Did the selectors take into consideration that he, Stephen Jacobs or Rajendra Chandrika were West Indies junior players? Are there any plans for them? Are there any allowances for special coaching clinics, analysis, TV monitoring, personal development for these aspiring WI players?
These players can’t be good yesterday and bad today! Something has to be wrong with the selection process. Only a few weeks ago the Berbice Cricket Board expressed outrage over the non-selection of Delbert Hicks and Homchand Pooran to the 21-man training squad (see letter to the press on December 12). One has to also question the non-selection of Vishal Singh. He excelled at the GCB 4-day tournament (Inter-County) with scores of 97 runs against Demerara, 134 runs against Essequibo and 71 and 24 runs against Berbice. These are all young players and part of the future of Guyana cricket. They are loaded with talent and if properly nurtured can become the drivers for Guyana and WI cricketing success. Therefore some care and consideration must be extended to these players.
There must be a clear and better understanding among players, selectors and other stakeholders.
This axe-man mentality and lottery-style guesswork must be taken out of the process allowing for more clarity and consistency for selectors, managers, coaches and players.
In concluding, by virtue of the selectors picking only one specialist opener in Travis Dowlin a sense of hopelessness is created among players vying for opening slots. I don’t think we have limited options, as some of the players mentioned earlier, eg Singh, Chandrika and Barnwell can play this role. Further, having one specialist opener is an injustice to Mr Dowlin. He is a middle order batsman for Guyana and WI who can do the job of an opener in a crisis situation. However, in the limited overs and 20/20 version of the game Travis is your guy.
The above questions and incomprehensible actions by our selectors beg for a revisit of the selection process that will see the streamlining of openness, transparency and compassion.
Yours faithfully,
Alfred Mentore
