Tony Fraser, Nominated Member of the North Zone Cricket Council, wrote the following on his Facebook page on the selection of the CWI T20 World Cup squad.
The cricketing world will never forget the power, the West Indian flourish, and the assured intent of Carlos Braithwaite as he bombed the four sixes into the stratosphere to win for the West Indies the 2016 T20 World Cup. The experience humbled England’s leading all-rounder, Ben Stokes to his knees to beg forgiveness for his presumption.
The power and glory of the moment inspired Ian Bishop’s soul-baring West Indian scream into the microphone, one that called out to and honoured the ancestors: “Remember that name” … “Carlos Braithwaite”.
In the in-between times to now, the West Indies have slid in the ICC standings to be above only Sri Lanka of the best quality teams. It is now the responsibility of the 2021 team to once again place West Indian cricket and society amongst the great sporting nations of the world.
Yes, I agree that the selectors made several poor choices: the aged and long past-his-best Gayle – I acknowledge though with great hope that he can confound us all by drawing on his past to play the innings that will win us the T20 world championships; the failure to place Holder amongst the first team; and Darren Bravo, whose form and continuing inability to contend successfully with the short ball also amounted to a bad choice.
The above and more should have opened the way for others such as Rutherford, and this is notwithstanding the latter’s reported failure to meet fitness standards – surely some form of rigid training schedule could have been set for him to meet the physical fitness standards required.
Romario Shepherd and his T20 qualities: strong like an ox, his bold and aggressive batting and bowling and above average ability in the field should have counted for something, with Odean Smith being also worthy of a place to supply the firepower.
Dwayne Bravo and Pollard, make-up for the creeping years with cricket intelligence, their capacity for strategizing in the game, the willingness to share their experience and knowledge and leadership of the younger players. It’s agreed that consideration had to be given to Rampaul’s taking the highest number of wickets in the CPL. But while getting wickets in the T20 format requires some guile and understanding of the game to confuse batsmen, energy, all round capability and the boldness of youth, ala Drakes, are greater match-winning abilities and dispositions.
The fact though, to utilize an overworked cliché: “It is what it is”; we now have to place our complete support in the team and send the right vibes to the players and this notwithstanding a measure of selector-disenchantment.
Prime Minister Mia Mottley has given us a model to follow. Having said her piece on behalf of her countryman (Holder) being relegated to the reserves, she left it there; others in the present and past have gone beyond what was and is acceptable.
Mottley’s intervention reminds of Prime Minister Eric Williams, the historian, understanding the gravity and the potential calamitous outcome of President Forbes Burnham’s attempt to force Garfield Sobers to “grovel” before him. The T&T PM used diplomacy and his writing skills to assuage the anger of his colleague while keeping intact the pride of the greatest ever cricketer.
All of that apart, there are excellent players in this team inclusive of Lewis who is surely amongst the best T20 opening batsmen of the era with his clean and fearless hitting; young and deceptive Obed McCoy; spinner Akeal Hosein; and Chase, who interestingly has been struggling in Test cricket, which his batting technique and personality are far more attuned to, has tailored his classical stroke-play to match the need for urgency in the T20 format.
That the Barbadian stroke-player emerged as the most consistent batsman of the CPL should be a lesson to the likes of Hetmeyer and Pooran who have made careers out of underperforming.
As an unrepentant follower-lover of Test cricket with its requirements for character and the application of the mind, I acknowledge that the West Indies of the present do not measure up to Test cricket’s highest standards.
However, I am attaching importance to the team winning this T20 World Cup in the hope that it can return pride in our cricket legacy and infuse self-belief into West Indian cricketers.
The immediate requirement is for much effort and cricketing intelligence to be invested in bringing the selected team and players to the level that can secure victory and restore the West Indian tradition of excellence in cricket.
There will never be a time when “John Public” is happy with the composition of a team selected to represent the region.
However, having said that, like Tony, we as a people must now place ALL of our support behind the team that is ours and send positive vibes their way.