I looked on in horror at the events unfolding last week concerning our national captain and West Indies vice-captain Denesh Ramdin at the Champions Trophy in England.Ramdin has been suspended for two ODIs, and fined 100 per cent of his match fees, for breaching the Code of Conduct when he claimed a catch off Misbah-ul-Haq during the Champions Trophy game against Pakistan at The Oval.The incident took place in the ninth over of Pakistan's innings, when Misbah bottom-edged a Kemar Roach delivery to Ramdin. The wicketkeeper initially appeared to have caught the ball but lost control of it as he fell forward, and it slipped out of his gloves on to the grass. Instead of bringing his mistake to the notice of the umpires or his team-mates, Ramdin returned the ball to the square-leg umpire and joined his team-mates in the celebratory huddle.
Square-leg umpire Nigel Llong, however, alerted the third umpire and the replay revealed the chance had been dropped. Misbah, who was on 0, was called back and went on to hit an unbeaten 96.The charge–under article 2.2.11 of the ICC Code of Conduct which relates to "conduct that is contrary to the spirit of the game"–was laid by the on-field umpires Steve Davis and Llong, third umpire Tony Hill and fourth umpire Richard Kettleborough. Ramdin had pleaded not guilty and attended a hearing adjudicated by Broad.While all of T&T and the Caribbean have a problem with the ruling saying it is too harsh, I wonder if they have the real facts behind what happened.What has angered me more is the fact that the management of this team seems not to have a hold on the players. I am putting the blame for this one squarely on the shoulders of the management team.Ramdin was initially fined 50 per cent of his match fee for the indiscretion and decided to appeal it. Now according to ICC rules concerning appeals, if you lose you get the maximum penalty imposed on you.
Ramdin appealed and we all know what happened. The management of the team should have sat him down and told him, look the maximum penalty if you lose, includes missing the last two preliminary matches. We are not taking that chance because it would upset the entire balance of the team and we are not in the middle of a tournament, willing to risk that. However, they did not and Ramdin was slapped with the ban.This brings into question whether the management of the team had any idea of what the maximum penalty was. They should have sought that information which is readily available before making a decision to go to appeal.A similar situation appeared with T&T all rounder Yannic Cariah during the recently concluded regional First Class season.Cariah questioned a dismissal and was found to be in breach of the rules concerning the 'spirit of the game.' He was advised by the management of the team of the consequences if he appealed and he decided not to exercise that option for the betterment of the team.
When players come into a team, they have to be told in no uncertain terms of what is expected of them. They need to be told what they can and cannot do as team members and they must be clearly informed of the role they play as ambassadors of their country.Recently when a number of young players were coming into the T&T set up for the regional tournament, the manager of the T&T cricket team Omar Khan was taking them for one-on-one talks and asking to see their equipment to make sure that they were not infringing any marketing regulations. Also he spoke to them at length of their roles and responsibilities in the team set-up.This is responsible management, no wonder the T&T team continues to be the flag bearer in this part of the world.