Dear Editor,
I must confess that as I was fuming about the foolish noise in some quarters over the decision not to recycle Darren Bravo at the expense of young promising players, I erupted into fits of laughter upon reading in the press of the retirement of Shane Dowrich. This fellow was just recalled to perform West Indies duties only a few days earlier by the now famous bunch of comedians led by the ‘Goodly Dr. Haynes”, for whatever conceivable reason, only they can explain. Their penchant for being consistently inconsistent is aggravating, embarrassing and disgraceful and you are left to ponder whether the WICB is utilizing its scarce financial resources to rescue some former players who may fallen on tough times by providing them with employment. No normal thinking person in the Caribbean, except his countrymen, could have understood the recall of Dowrich to the West Indies team and in the same breath exclude Darren Bravo.
It was a barefaced act of insularity which has continued to plague West Indies cricket. We have had enough of it in recent times from the boys from the Twin Islands which has brought WI cricket (as one of my country man ably described it) as low as duck ankle and now these comedians seems hell bent on wanting to take it out of existence by continuing along the same destructive path. In my recent missive I had advised the “Goodly Dr,” to do a Usain Bolt, but I suppose it is hard for some people to recognize when they have become the problem rather than the solution. And as if WI cricket does not have enough drama, up comes the unnecessary annoying noise of the non-recycling of Darren Bravo. After years of failing miserably and then having one fairly good regional season with the bat, 34 year old Darren Bravo’s brother and a bunch of other individuals are shedding Jacob tears over his exclusion from the WI team.
I can speak of many players in the West Indies who had been performing in regional cricket over the years but were ignored at the expense of recycling average players who turned out to be no good. I did not hear then, these same voices questioning the selection policy and asking for a clear selection criteria. This great Darren Bravo had his technique exposed about four or five years ago and the last time I saw him bat in the CPL, I can say without fear of contradiction that those flaws were still very much there. Successful batsmen learn quickly that they have to sort out their challenges which are part and parcel of cricket. Not wait four or five years when they are almost in their mid-thirties to make some runs and believe that you have a transport for a place in the West Indies team. What about those young players who had been performing while he Darren Bravo was failing? Who is Darren Bravo that they must now take a back seat and make room for him to play? Do these people calling for those young performing West Indies players to be over looked and discriminated against for Darren Bravo to play have a tunnel between the ears?
While I agree with the decision not to recycle Darren Bravo, the selectors must strive for consistency by terminating the practice of recycling average players who are tested and proven failures. And the policy should be applicable to the likes of Raymond Reifer, Roston Chase, Shamar Brooks, Jommel Warrican and Devon Thomas. Jason Holder who I think is one cricketer who has wasted his attributes and has been seen as a top all-rounder (which I disagree) cannot justify his place with batting averages of 29.4, 24.9 and 14.5 in Test, ODI’s and T20 respectively and a bowling average that is nothing to shout about. His captaincy record was one of the, if not, the worst in modern times and I cannot see recycling him will make any positive difference to West Indies cricket. These recycled players cannot and will not take WI cricket anywhere so it is time to rebuild with the younger players for the future. And for heaven’s sake, the West Indian public can do with a nice Christmas gift… The Goodly Dr. and his bunch of comedians should resign on Christmas Eve Day.
Sincerely,
Eric Whaul
