President Donald Ramotar intends to raise the issue of the continued exclusion of Guyanese star batsman Ramnaresh “Ronnie” Sarwan from the West Indies team at the next session of the CARICOM subcommittee on cricket.
The Office of the President in a statement yesterday noted that despite Sarwan’s outstanding batting record, he has been kept out of West Indies cricket.
The release noted that Sarwan has scored 5,842 test runs in just 87 test matches, approximately 67.1 runs per match, and yet he has been kept out of West Indies cricket.
“This exclusion has forced Mr. Sarwan to seek employment in England, where he is the captain and a leading batsman for the English county team Leicestershire. Currently he is regarded as one of the leading batsmen in English county cricket with three magnificent centuries so far,” the Office of the President stated.
It also pointed out that Sarwan has a strong track record of performance in Test cricket with thirty-one half centuries, fifteen centuries with his highest test score of 291 runs.
However, despite these seminal performances he is being overlooked by the WICB. He is also an excellent one-day player with more than 5,000 one-day international runs at an average of 43.41 while his track record on the field certainly earns him a place in the team, the Office of the President contended.
Meanwhile, President Ramotar is “calling for a fair and transparent system in the selection of players. He would like the selection criterion to be known to all, and that this objective method be used, rather that unclear subjectivity.”
Moreover, he hopes that with such a fair and transparent system Sarwan would easily regain his place in the WICB team.
Sarwan has not played for the West Indies since the home series against India in July 2010.
