Allrounder Kieron Pollard was dropped from the West Indies team for the Tri-Nation series involving Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe next month because he lacked 'batting commitment,' during his stint with the team in the Pakistan.
In a wide ranging interview on radio on Monday night, Pollard said he was told by chairman of selectors, Courtney Browne, that he was dropped because of 'batting commitment.'
"So, not because of my onfield catching, my energy on the field, my bowling returns or my advice to the captain but because of my (lack of) commitment to batting."
Admitting that he had a bad tour in terms of performances, Pollard said there were a number of cricketing reasons for his scores which he explained to the chairman of selectors.
He identified the state of the innings and what had transpired before he went out to bat. "I painted all the scenarios, coming in to bat in the T20s at 25-5, then 70-5 and then again seventy something for 5. If I played my natural game and got catch out on the boundary, people will say I am irresponsible."
He said it was interesting that he should be dropped after one bad tournament when in the series before in the Caribbean, he topped the averages when the West Indies reached the finals of the Tri-nations series involving South Africa and Australia.
"So I cannot agree with the chairman of the selectors that there was a lack of batting commitment."
Pollard said he is still interested in playing for the West Indies and was told his career is not over, he just needs to go back and work on his game.
Pollard said he was surprised that fellow Trinidadian Denesh Ramdin was also dropped. "Perhaps this was the one that shocked most people, when Ramdin, who scored two totals of thirty odd was also dropped and was told that it was his commitment to wicketkeeping that was the problem, he was not cheering on the team enough, (not) giving them encouragement."
Pollard noted that with everything going on, there is a strong belief that Trinidad and Tobago citizens are being picked on. "We have heard what has been said by well respected persons about some at the West Indies Cricket Board and their feelings on Trinidad and Tobago."
He said it was difficult to understand the decision to remove another Trinidadian, coach Phil Simmons, on the eve of the team's departure for Pakistan. "There is no doubt the sacking of the coach affected the team. Phil Simmons was more involved in man management. He was someone the players could go to for any matters personal or otherwise. There was a trust and he could and was willing to give you a different perspective and it helped many players with both the mental and technical aspect of their games. Players are human and therefore who can the players turn to for the tour. Honestly nobody seemed to know who was in charge. One day we asked for the training schedule and the answer came from the physio. The next day, we asked for other information and it came from the media manager. It was a lot of bits and pieces and sometimes you ask questions to management and you did not get an answer. We cannot fault the two coaches Springer and Estwick. They are probably on tour by tour contracts and really would not be in a strong position to say anything," added Pollard.
Pollard suggested that insularity was returning to West Indies cricket and was coming from the top.
"When I first came into West Indies cricket around 2006/7, there was this idea of persons from different countries but that changed over the years with T20 cricket, IPL, CPL and other tournaments around the world. Everyone began to better appreciate everyone else, so you would meet up Sammy, meet up Gayle, meet up others and you build a bond on the outside, so now when you come back to play for West Indies it is a great togetherness. There is no more of that but it is starting to come back and we all are seeing where it is coming from. It is happening from the top of West Indies cricket."
Pollard also spoke of the broken spirit of the players in Pakistan and identified it as the reason why the team was swept in both the T20s and ODIs. "As to team meetings, it was appalling, players were just there and sitting down and nothing was being said because guys were afraid to voice their opinion based on what was going on, that you could lose your place. This is not good for the team going forward. Instead of thinking about winning, players were thinking about stats, being 30 or 40 not out and not trying to win matches but this can be expected, when the selectors make these comments about your average."