WI selectors derelict in their duties

THE EDITOR: I call for the immediate resignation or dismissal of the West Indies Cricket Board's selection panel. And while the recent controversy has been brought about due to Darren Bravo’s non-selection issue, not that per se, is the reason for my call, but for their general dereliction of duty.

These selectors are selected to choose the best possible team for the West Indian public, not for themselves or the country they happen to be born in. They are aided in this process by regional competitions.

These selectors are not like football administrators who can scout around and find players who they believe can perform in the structure available, no, there is a structure that gives rise to West Indies cricket team selection. A dereliction of duty occurs in any company when the structures and processes of the company – put in place to aid in its overall success – are violated by the employees. In some cases, after thorough investigations, one of the actions against the guilty party is dismissal.

Darren Bravo’s non-selection is a gross dereliction of duty and should lead to resignations or dismissals. His average in ODIs is better that everyone on the WI team who has played more than 25 matches, save for Shai Hope; and only two in the the group that was selected, have a better average than Bravo.

In 2021, in the Super50 tournament, Bravo’s average was the best at 65, in 2022 he was second in the runs scored at an average of 48 and in this year's competition – where he not only captained the team but also led TT to the trophy – he topped both runs scored and the batting average, better than every single member of the team selected.

Therefore, the only plausible argument I can fathom for his non-selection is some kind of bias or, as I am suggesting, a clear dereliction of duty by the selectors.

In his defence, the head of selectors Desmond Haynes – himself a retired WI great – said it was Darren Bravo's age which led to him not being selected.

What Haynes was also saying is that Bravo will not be allowed to ply his trade in WI colours again and his earnings would be cut. This is a young man who is back at the top of his game and who reached there through sheer dint of hard work and diligence, yet who is being retired because of a policy conceptualised by an insular selection committee.

In any job, anywhere in the world, performance would beat old talk and more or less will help in keeping one’s job. Bravo’s performance didn’t help his cause, since those in authority have said he is too old at 34.

At present some of the world’s best batsmen are over 34, and this list includes Virat Kholi, India's skipper Rohit Sharma, David Warner, Steve Smith, among others.

Chief selector Haynes is one of those batsmen whose batting average improved when they passed 34, and others include Clive Lloyd, Inzamam ul Haq, Don Bradman and Graham Gooch. It is interesting to note that, according to Wikipedia, it is this very same Desmond Haynes who has pulled the plug on Bravo's career on the basis of age, who played his first ODI for the WI in 1978 at the age of 22, with his last ODI game being in 1994 – 16 years later – at the age of, wait for it, 38 years!

He and the rest of the selectors should resign now or be fired immediately for a dereliction of duty.

TERRANCE BROWNE

WI cricket fan