Selector Haynes bats for Rampaul

West Indies selector Robert Haynes has defended the selection of T&T pacer Ravi Rampaul to the West Indies team for the upcoming International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup in Asia. Rampaul was among five T&T players selected in the 15-man squad for the tournament. There have been calls in Barbados for Tino Best to be included at Rampaul’s expense but Haynes came out to bat for the PowerGen player.
“Ravi has been our best one day bowler over the past year and we wanted to see him at the World Cup. He did not have the best of series in our last 50 overs outing against South Africa but he has done enough over the last year to warrant a place.

“We would like to see him have a crack at the World Cup and see how he goes. We have great hopes as far as Ravi is concerned and we are backing him by giving him a run.” Haynes said the selectors have noted an improvement in Best and he is still in the frame. “Best has been discussed and he is one of the reserve players. The other two reserve players are Devon Thomas and Kirk Edwards. He just has to keep working and his time will come. We have a plan on when to introduce certain players and we are sticking to this.”