West Indies head coach Phil Simmons has said that the current spinners within the West Indies setup for the last few series were selected despite Veerasammy Permaul’s feat in the Best vs. Best match.
Permaul grabbed seven wickets in the recent Best vs. Best match while another left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican went wicketless. Warrican, however got the nod over Permaul.
Simmons was speaking on Monday via Zoom Conference, shortly after the squad was announced.
The left-arm spinner was the key bowler in the recently concluded Best vs Best match where he ended with seven wickets.
His tally is compounded by a string of performances over
the years for the Guyana Jaguars in the Regional First-Class competition.
It has been just over a year when Permaul’s First Class performance had earned him a spot in the 30-man squad that toured England.
However, inexplicably, despite being in and around the set up of every series since, he has been unable to break into the playing XI.
“Best versus Best matches are part of us trying to make sure players get enough for one, proper preparation but also for us to see what players are doing during these games,” the head coach said.
Simmons added, “You can’t just say well alright and you use Permaul as an example. We played the last Test match with one spinner. We had two spinners on the bench. Yes, he has come and got some wickets, bowled well in the first innings, but for us, I think we have seen that we needed to continue with the spinners that we had on the 14 or 15 we had for the last time.”
The other spinners included in the 17-man squad are Rahkeem Cornwall, who also returned a five-wicket haul in the practice match, Roston Chase who had good all-round returns and left-arm spinner, Jomel Warrican who was wicketless in his 24 overs.
Just two months ago ahead of the last Test series West Indies played, Cricket West Indies’ Chairman of Selectors, Roger Harper was adamant on the importance of picking in form players who have shown consistency.
The Chairman of Selectors reasoned at that time, “We are in different times. Opportunities are not the same. We have to create measures and opportunities to get to where we want to get and do that as best as possible. If we are picking an Olympic team and the guy in 2010 run 9.55 and just prior to selection runs 11.2 are you going to pick him as well?”
It was at this time he had suggested young Jayden Seales was handed a debut after picking up a match haul of 5-87 in a Best v Best match.
Opener, Kieran Powell also earned a recall after scoring 95 as well as Shai Hope while Shamarh Brooks was the latest to return to the squad after scoring 134 in the Best v Best match.
“I think sometimes we look at it and someone has done well in the game yes understood but sometimes we look at it and say maybe look this is the best squad we can select now for the game so that’s how we look at it,” Simmons related.
The 31-year-old Permaul has played a mere six Tests since his 2012 debut against Bangladesh in Dhaka but hasn’t featured in a Test since 2015.