Dear Editor,
In light of the fact that so many West Indian cricketers are being excluded from the region’s teams ostensibly because of conflicts with management, and that such exclusions most likely result in the weakening of the teams, why can’t there be an attempt made by those who care about the game in the region and have some influence, to isolate this issue from the much broader structural problems that have been dealt with in many commission reports, but seem intractable.
I do not understand why my suggestion that the issue can be viewed within the lens of ‘appropriate punishment’ is considered not even publishable. Clearly there seem to be important people who genuinely believe that players who do not display proper respect for management must be disciplined.
I do not disagree, but I respectfully submit that the punishment should not always take the form that is most likely to weaken the team. Surely this is a suggestion that may attract not only interest, but support from many fans, and could most likely result in the selection of better teams, or as is often said, not cutting your nose to spite your face.
Yours faithfully,
Romain Pitt