Sometimes we make mistakes! That is human. Other times our decisions are based upon moments of anger, jealousy, and even vindictiveness, especially in sport.Since the announcement of Jason Holder's choice as captain of the West Indies ODI squad, it seems as though there have been many more reasons for the selectors to include or omit players, many of which may not have logical explanations.
It is clear to see that the selected team does not reflect what could appear to be sensible analyses of the players who are eligible contenders.Just a few months ago, these same selectors had chosen Dwayne Bravo to lead the ODI squad against Ireland, New zealand, Bangladesh and India, a clear and fair decision, if there was ever one.Who would have challenged the athletic all-rounder's extraordinary ability to bat, bowl, and field as good as anyone with similar capabilities?
This was no accident, just look at the records at his entire career, regardless of where he played, and we can see that this type of cricketer will always have a place in today's ODI setting especially.
These same selectors were the ones who chose Bravo for India, which brings my next question to the three-man panel.Clearly you appear to admit that your first decision was faulty. OK, if so, how on earth could your choice for captain be justified at this time?
And while I recognise the potential of Holder as a promising fast bowler, the role of captaincy could not be justified.The job of captaincy cannot be learnt from a book, neither can anyone search a crystal ball and come up with the name of a young man whose reputation lies between one test match and 21 ODIs, some with occasional success, but nothing to highlight his prowess as a captain for the future.
As a bowler among the others that are available, exactly where do the selectors place Holder among Jerome Taylor, Kemar Roach, Ravi Rampaul, Andre Russell, Krishmar Santokie, Shannon Gabriel, and Sheldon Cottrell? This panel has chosen all these players within the past year.The blind will chose Taylor, Roach, Rampaul, Russell, and Santokie ahead of the young fast bowler. I admit that the three selectors are former test players, hence the reason we all believed that they should have done a better job of selection.
Let's look at the psychological aspect of this green horn leading a bunch of more experienced (proven mind you), contributors to the international game, many of them accredited with excellent marks in their unfinished careers.Having said my piece, if the selection of this team was genuinely chosen by the panel, then it would appear that they are poor assessors of players.I suppose that we can go on to speak about the omission of Kieron Pollard, Rampaul and Darren Sammy, all of whom were chosen by this same trio recently.
The panel has lost their way, or they do not know as much of the great game as they were given credit for. Unless they were given instructions by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) that these players must not be considered for selection because of activity that is unrelated to the game itself.That provides a different picture and one which has far reaching proportions, especially if there happens to be some sort of vindictive behaviour by the Board or the Disciplinary Committee.
If the WICB gave that decision and the selection panel followed the instruction, then we must assume that neither took blame in the manner that the task force was identified. Their report said that all parties were wrong. That included, WICB, West Indies Players Association (Wipa) and the players.The only full time employees in that trio, are the players, and unless the Board can indicate the reasons for penalising the players, it must be brought to the public.
These players may have erred by not taking the field against India, but they were literally pushed into this situation by a bunch of amateurs on the WICB and Wipa, both of which could not provide an official contract for the players to accept, before the start of the India tour.From its present position, I believe that the time has come for everyone of the national cricket boards to accept that enough is enough. There is an absence of professionalism, competence, and business acumen, all of which are needed to conduct the game of cricket, which is now big business.
Right now, they have the players making statements which have a flavour of accepting decisions because they want to continue so long as their salaries are paid.The picture is abysmal, the mindset of the players are not compatible with their responsibilities as West Indies cricketers.The result in the first Test against South Africa is an obvious sign, and who knows what is brewing down the road