The announcement of the West Indies T20 squad to face Pakistan has, as usual, left me baffled. While some of selections are laudable (Bishoo, Santokie, Simmons), the persistence with Andre Fletcher is puzzling. Almost exactly one year ago (April 8), I wrote that "Fletcher's last six T20 international scores were 13, 0, 0, 0, 8, 0 for a princely average of 3.5." Since then, he played in two more (against South Africa in the West Indies) making 0 and 4, "boosting" his average in the last eight to 3.1 and in the last seven to 1.7.
If that's all it takes to make a West Indies team, no wonder we are continually embarrassed, clueless, confused and annihilated. Presumably, Fletcher will play because we need someone to keep wicket. (Simmons can do that but he is probably more useful in the outfield.) Which raises the question as to why Denesh Ramdin was not picked as the wicket-keeper. Surely, he is a far better 'keeper than Fletcher and I am certain his average is far more than 1.7. He has also been making a fair number of runs lately. Ramdin for Fletcher would have been much more beneficial to the West Indian cause.
The selection of Danza Hyatt is also mystifying. While he is classified as a hard-hitting batsman, he has never made runs against T&T in T20 matches (he made a duck in the most recent match against us). The spin bowlers get him every time. Do the selectors really think he will fare better against Afridi and Ajmal? Notwithstanding the above, the non-selection of Samuel Badree is the most galling. I consider Badree the best T20 bowler in the region. Don't take my word for it. Look at the statistics in this year's Caribbean T20 tournament: 4-2-7-0 against the Leewards; 4-0-20-1 against Canada; 4-0-21-2 against Barbados; 4-0-15-1 in the semi-final against Jamaica; and 4-0-15-1 in the final against Hampshire.
The average strike rate against him in the entire tournament was 15.6 runs in 4 overs. This is unheard of in any form of T20 cricket, much less at regional level.
The WICB has made a big to-do about selection based on participation in this year's tournament. What is the point if excellent performances in the tournament count for nothing? What more could anyone have done to merit selection? Was the rule about participation more a criterion for the omission of certain players rather than one for selection? I call on the TTCB and, indeed, all lovers of West Indies cricket, to question why, based on these performances, was Badree not selected on the West Indies T20 squad.
Noel Kalicharan
via e-mail