Dear Editor,
Cricket fans throughout the Caribbean and further afield are no doubt happy to learn that the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has finally decided to have the most experienced former Test players including two captains as members of the selection panel.
The two former captains Clive Lloyd and Courtney Walsh have been appointed to the new panel which includes former Windies wicketkeeper-batsman Courtney Browne who has been retained along with current head coach Ottis Gibson . The captain will be non-voting member. Previous chairman, former Test off-spinner Guyanese Clyde Butts and all-rounder Robert Haynes have been fired.
Fans in the region would also like the board to sack Head Coach Ottis Gibson and replace him with the experienced Viv Richards, They feel that Lloyd, Walsh, Richards et al will certainly be a boost to West Indies cricket. Lloyd, arguably the most successful West Indies captain ever, has been contracted for two years to head up the panel. Walsh, an iconic fast bowler as well as international player and coach Eldine Baptiste are also included in the panel along with Courtney Browne, who has been retained as both selector and regional talent manager with a specialist focus on youth and women’s cricket.
Walsh played 132 Tests and 205 ODIs and served as manager for the West Indies while Baptiste a former Test player was head coach in South Africa.
Yours faithfully,
Oscar Ramjeet