Rally round WI win, lose or draw

THE EDITOR: No player is bigger than the team. CWI director of cricket Jimmy Adams has already made it clear that the board has no problem with granting no objection certificates to players who wish to ply their trade elsewhere and that the West Indies will move on with or without them. It’s ignorant for anybody to throw tantrums when certain players aren’t selected for the West Indies without knowing the facts.

CWI chief executive Johnny Grave and lead selector Desmond Haynes have introduced at the onset of their tenure fitness benchmarks. If a player is injured then that player can’t play, for example Fabian Allen. If a player fails the “yo-yo test” then that player is not fit enough to play, case in point Shimron Hetmyer. These athletes aren’t robots, they need to be rested, for instance Jason Holder.

Everyone has a nose and, unfortunately, you can’t please anybody. We’re not in the 1980s anymore. It’s upsetting that a lot of former players, commentators and fans continue to “wash their mouth” on the team at every endeavour. The WI recently completed series victories over the Netherlands, Bangladesh and England.

CWI president Ricky Skerritt and his team have been shifting out all the deadwood players and moulding a fresh and ambitious core of players for the Test and limited-overs formats going forward. Rally round the WI, win, lose or draw! Anybody not on board is free to go to the beach.

KENDELL KARAN

via e-mail