Da Silva should have played

THE EDITOR: After the first two Test matches against England, it was clear West Indies opener John Campbell and No 3 batsman Shai Hope were hopelessly out of touch, with both averaging below 20 runs.

Included in the touring party is young reserve wicketkeeper/opening batsman Joshua Da Silva, who scored 133 and 56, both not out, in the final warm-up match before the start of the Test series.

So it did not take a great degree of perception to realise that either one or both of the out-of-form frontline batsmen should have been dropped and Da Silva given the opportunity he earned by including him in the starting 11 for the final Test.

To me, it was like a football team manager who is a goal down in a cup final, with 20 minutes to go, and he fails to make any attacking substitutions and goes on to loose the game.

As we all just witnessed, both Campbell and Hope once again made minor contributions with the bat and we went on to loose the three-match series after winning the first Test. How very sad and how different it could have been if team management had the foresight and gumption to give Da Silva a chance to show his obviously considerable skills on the world stage.

GREGORY WIGHT

via e-mail