Daren Ganga: 'I'm Disappointed'
Tue, Dec 28, '04
(Trinidad Guardian)
Trinidad & Tobago skipper Daren Ganga views the non-inclusion of players from his winning team in the West Indies side for the VB series, as a slap in the face.
One of the criteria for selection on the West Indies team is performing well in the regional tournament. We had players from T&T who did very well and we won the series, yet none of us are on the team for the series Down Under," Ganga said.
?The thinking of the selectors is unclear at the moment, and not having anyone from that team included, is really a slap in the face for T&T?s cricket.?
T&T won the President?s Cup by beating Guyana in the final at Kensington two months ago.
Four players from the team were called to the West Indies camp in Barbados?Daren, his brother Sherwin, wicketkeeper Dinesh Ramdin and hard hitting middle order batsman Ricardo Powell.
None were included in the 14-man squad announced on Christmas Eve for the tour to Australia.
Trinidadians Brian Lara, Mervyn Dillon and Dwayne Bravo are in the team.
Ganga said: ?Personally, one of my goals this past period was to get back into the West Indies? one-day team. I said to myself that in order to get back into the team, I had to play well in the regional series.
?I did pretty well with the bat, and what I thought was a bonus was the fact that I guided T&T to the title.
?I am very disappointed that I wasn?t included on the team and it is unfortunate that the selectors see me as a player out of the one-day reckoning.?
Ganga has appeared in 28 One-Day Internationals for the West Indies, scoring 691 runs at an average of 26.57.
Ironically, his last two innings in one-day cricket brought him two half-centuries. He is also one of the best fielders in the Caribbean.
?All that has happened is now water under the bridge and now it?s back to the drawing board for me and I plan to enjoy the long First Class season ahead. I am now focusing on getting back into the Test team and from here onwards I would be working very hard to achieve this goal.
?However, immediately in front of me is the regional Carib Beer series and I am again looking to take my country to the top in this tournament as well.?
Ganga also said that Powell?s exclusion could have been due to the poor President?s Cup series he had.
?Ricardo is a one-day specialist and he must have missed out due to the under-par series he had with us. ?However, I must add that if they were looking at the performances in the one-day tournament, then there were those who performed well and should have been rewarded with a place.?
The West Indies team goes into action on January 14 with a day/night match against Australia.