Dear Editor,
There is the question I must answer quickly about the upcoming Indian tour. I travelled from Toronto where I live, to Barbados, to watch two of the matches in the 2016 tripartite series between Australia, South Africa and the West Indies, in which we got to the finals by defeating each of the other two teams which were ranked much higher than us, once each. Earlier this year I travelled to both Antigua and Barbados to watch the series against England, in which we lost all three games by huge margins. In the 2016 series West Indies were represented by players whose experience roughly matched that of the South Africans and Aussies. In the series this year we were represented by a sort of over 19 youth team. The results in this last series were utterly predictable because the punishment philosophy was fully in play, together with the childish belief that any team can win on any day. Southern Ontario is very pleasant this time of year and I do not like the idea of leaving this area now, even for a short time, to go and see kiddie cricket. I suspect there are many fans who face this dilemma, and it is not good for the game in the region. Is it safe to rely on selection sanity for the Indian tour, or will the craziness persist? The cost of craziness will be high for both the region and me.
Yours faithfully,
Romain Pitt
