Dear Editor,
What word can we coin to describe the West Indies selectors of recent times? I have found to my dismay a complete lack of direction in charting a forward plan to make our team competitive, the latest test selections have left mouths opened at the double standards demonstrated of the fourteen or fifteen players that the final eleven would have been selected from.
The selectors have repeatedly affirmed by several media releases that performance was going to be the yardstick that would guide the selection panel in naming the team to represent the region. Yet time and again it is observed the blatant disregard for most runs scored by batsman/men or most wickets taken by bowler/s in our domestic season, and in at least one case the leading run scorer has been called up to be in the fourteen but thus far has not been given the opportunity to play even in the face of failures of others in the final eleven.
Then more recently the Chairman of selectors Courtney Browne made changes to the wicket-keeping position, bringing youthful Dowrich in place of Ramdin. Nothing wrong there only the way in which Ramdin was treated, he was unceremoniously discarded and I am not aware that an announcement was made commending him for his services to West Indies Cricket, only that his averages/performances did not warrant continuity as a member of the team. Mind you, Ramdin was appointed captain last year against England and Australia and the team he led did reasonably well in the prevailing circumstances of iconic players being relegated to the shorter form of the game and showing off their wares globally instead of being allowed to do service for the regional team at test levels.
The latest casualty is Darren Sammy and he joins a long list of discarded or ignored players who have suffered the ignominy of the “dumped”. The public is asked to believe that Darren Sammy’s sacking as Captain of the Twenty20 West Indies team is due to low batting and bowling averages, worthy of note though is the fact that this so-called underperformer just months ago led the Twenty20 team to an emphatic win against powerhouse England in India, yet after this success he is analysed on his averages and that analysis didn’t mention his averages as a captain. This state of affairs must be confusing to the minds of Caribbean cricket lovers all over the world and must leave a disgusting gnawing feeling that the former selector and the successor do not really know what they are about.
The great iconic West Indian Captain Clive Lloyd and idol of many fans, I could not understand his method of selections. Permaul was never called up to be even in the thirteen from which the final eleven would be selected even though he had mesmerized many Caribbean batsmen and got more wickets than any other bowler in the region. He was left to languish on the side lines and continues to be.
Now my fellow cricketing lovers I have no quarrel with the dropping of Shiv Chanderpaul, my quarrel is with the way they dictated to him that he must retire. If in the view of the selectors Shiv was not his normal cricketing best then drop him. Let him know that his performances was not satisfactory and leave it to him to retire. Further, the President of the West Indies Cricket Board promised to give Shiv a proper send off. To date I ask “where is the proper send-off”. Shiv officially retired and nothing is heard about any plan or process to honour this long-serving stalwart.
To my mind West Indies cricket can improve by leaps and bounds if we can add some humanity when it comes to the dealings with the players, there must be someone who can persuade our best cricketers to avail themselves for selection for test matches. I speak of the likes of Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Lendl Simmons, Ravi Rampaul, Keiron Pollard, Andre Russell and of course Sunil Narine, when one has done one’s best then the best was done.
The time and season is here when vindictiveness and spiteful patterns must be eliminated from West Indian Cricket.
On the matter of Carlos Braithwaite’s reputed elevation to the captaincy of the Twenty20 team, I surely hope the selectors are not being carried away with a one-off performance, thereby pushing this young man to a fast cricket demise, and more so what does his averages reveal? Is it good, better or is it the best to warrant his appointment?
The fans of the Caribbean are thirsty and hungry for our team to be successful, but our administrators have their part to play also.
Yours faithfully,
Ivan John
