BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – The West Indies Players Association (WIPA) has questioned the omission of batting stars Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shiv Chanderpaul for the limited overs series against Pakistan and has cautioned the West Indies Cricket Board over its youth selection policy.
WIPA contended on Saturday that all three players boasted outstanding records, and said their absence gave the impression that other factors had been used to arrive at their non-selection.
Gayle, Sarwan and Chanderpaul were all overlooked for the Twenty20 International and the five-match One-Day International series against the touring Pakistanis starting later this week.
“The statistics show that Gayle has a Test batting average of 41.65, an ODI average of 39.06 and a T20 International average of 32.47,” a WIPA media release said Saturday.
“Shivnarine Chanderpaul, another of the dropped senior players, has a Test batting average of 48.98, an ODI batting average of 41.60 and a T20I average of 20.17. He has made over 19 000 first class runs.
“Sarwan has a Test batting average of 41.73, an ODI average of 43.20 and a T20I average of 22.92.”
The release continued: “While WIPA wants to see that young players with potential are incorporated into the team and blooded, this should not be at the expense of the overall team performance or of the obligation owed to the players to deal with them fairly and justly.”
“While WIPA is clear that teams should be picked on performance, potential, playing conditions and preparedness, it is concerned that there may be an appearance that there were other unknown factors being taken into account. If so, all players should be aware of what those other factors are.”
The trio, all former captains, are the most experienced in West Indies cricket with a combined 303 Tests and 662 ODIs between them.
However, all three had poor World Cup campaigns with Gayle gathering 170 runs from five innings, Sarwan scoring just 155 runs from six innings and Chanderpaul getting 114 runs from four innings.
Further, both Gayle and Chanderpaul are without ODI hundreds against top-rated sides in over two years while Sarwan has scored one century – against Ireland in April last year – in the last five years.
WICB chief executive Ernest Hilaire said this week that team selection during this period would be guided by preparation for the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
He said the experienced players had not been abandoned but selectors were moving towards “building a broad pool of international players”.
WIPA, however, said Saturday with Gayle, Sarwan and Chanderpaul overlooked, they now had a right to pursue other playing options.
“In light of this, WIPA now hopes that there will be no impediment to the three senior players mentioned above or any other players seeking other options to earn a living or demonstrate their continued mastery of the game,” the release said.
