PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Cricket authorities here have rejected Denesh Ramdin’s claim that victimisation was behind the decision to overlook him as national captain for the upcoming first class season.
In a release on Tuesday, the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board said the only consideration behind the decision was the West Indies Test captain’s anticipated unavailability because of the regional side’s heavy schedule over the next several months.
The board said this was conveyed to Ramdin at a meeting held Monday.
“… the T&TCB sought to get an idea of Ramdin’s willingness to represent his country following the cancellation of the Indian tour and the ongoing impasse with the [West Indies] Cricket Board (WICB),” the TTCB said. “At the meeting, Ramdin stated his commitment to T&T and his willingness to represent T&T once available and T&TCB president Bassarath informed him that the National Selectors have made a recommendation for a new captain and vice-captain.
“Reason put forward was that Ramdin was not expected to be available to represent T&T in the upcoming season because of the tight WI international schedule as he is current Test team captain.”
Ramdin was quoted as saying Monday that he had been axed as captain of the national side, and believed it was victimisation for the role he played as part of the squad that abandoned the recent one-day tour of India.
West Indies walked out on the tour after four games of the six-match limited overs series, in protest over the terms and conditions of their new playing contracts.
“I think they are trying to victimise me and some of the other players, but I am not going to let it disrupt me mentally,” Ramdin told the Trinidad Express newspaper.
However, the TTCB explained that with Ramdin expected to be missing for large chunks of the regional season because of West Indies duty, all-rounder Rayad Emrit would have been a better option for the captaincy role.
“Ramdin was expected to be leading the WI team in India at this time, followed by the tour of [South Africa] and then the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand,” the TTCB explained.
“This schedule meant that WI players will be returning to the region in late March 2015 by which time the regional season would be at an end. The regional season runs from November 14, 2014 through March 23, 2015.”
He added: “Both Ramdin and Dwayne Bravo, the regional and national ODI captain were expected to be very involved in these series hence making them unavailable to represent T&T.
“Leading all-rounder Rayad Emrit captained T&T last year with much success during Ramdin’s absence from the team.”
