BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – Legal counsel for the recently-sacked Cricket West Indies (CWI) selection panel, Tony Astaphan, has slammed comments by CWI president Ricky Skerritt regarding their removal and also plans to challenge the manner of their dismissal in court.
Chief selector Courtney Browne, along with Lockhart Sebastien and Eldine Baptiste, were all removed from their posts last week, as CWI announced it would revamp its entire selection process.
In announcing the changes at a media conference in Antigua, newly-elected CWI president Ricky Skerritt, said, “We have terminated the old embedded selection policy which secretly, but actively, victimised some players and banished them from selection consideration.”
Astaphan, however, took issue with the remarks.
“My clients are very troubled by their dismissal and the manner of their dismissal, particularly the statements made about the ‘old embedded selection policy which secretly but actively victimised players and banished them from selection consideration,” Astaphan told the Mason and Guess radio show here.
WEST INDIES WOMEN'S SQUAD FOR IRELAND AND ENGLAND SERIES
Thu, Apr 18, '19
CWI Media Release; Hayley Matthews and Stacy Ann King have been included by the Cricket West Indies (CWI) interim selection panel in a 14-member West Indies Women’s Squad that will tour Ireland and England from May 21- June 26.
Matthews returns to the squad after an injury layoff, when she damaged her MCL playing in the Women’s Big Bash in Australia last December. The injury resulted in Matthews missing the recent West Indies Women’s series against Pakistan in Karachi and Dubai. Stacy Ann King is returning to international cricket after an almost three year absence. King last represented the West Indies Women in the home series against England in 2016.
Interim Chairman of Selectors Robert Haynes on behalf of the interim selection panel said, “ Stacy Ann King’s return to the West Indies Women’s team to tour Ireland and England is no real surprise after her performance during the recently concluded Colonial Medical Insurance Women’s Super50 Cup and CWI’s T20 Blaze tournaments. Her experience is very vital in this very crucial series against England, a series that we must win, so her ability to bowl good left arm swing will be an added dimension to our bowling attack. Anisa Mohammed and Merissa Aguilleira’s performances in the recent women’s championships weren’t what we expected or how we wanted them to perform, so unfortunately they were not picked on this touring squad. There are other ladies who are vying for these coveted spots, we have three other wicketkeepers who have all been scoring consistently thereby outperforming Merissa.”
Haynes added, “In terms of Anisa, we have Hayley who’s back and the Captain Stafanie who can both bowl off-spin and have been performing consistently well. So overall we have a very unique and balanced team which reflects what we saw in Guyana during the Women’s Championships. Merissa and Anisa have given a lot to West Indies Cricket and I’m sure based on improved performances we can see them back in the West Indies Women’s team in future series.”
The fourteen (14) member squad along with six (6) reserve players will assemble in Antigua from May 6-20 for a training camp, before the touring party’s departure to Ireland from Antigua on May 21.
The West Indies Women will play Ireland in three (3) T20 Internationals on May 26, 28 and 29. Then they play England in three (3) One Day Internationals as part of the ICC Women’s Championships on June 6,9 and 13. Followed by three (3) T20 Internationals on June 18, 21 and 25.
Cricket West Indies (CWI) will be revisiting the Patterson and Wilkins Reports, and others, as part of its plan to restructure the governance of the sport regionally.
Ricky Skerritt, who was elected CWI president at its annual general meeting, last month, has been effecting immediate change to the personnel responsible for the body’s executive and technical operations. One of these is Senator Don Wehby, who has been appointed chairman of CWI’s Governance Committee, a task force set up to review the reports and make relevant changes based on its findings.
The Patterson report, compiled by former Prime Minister of Jamaica Percival James Patterson, was commissioned by former Cricket West Indies president Ken Gordon, in 2007, to examine the structure of West Indies cricket and suggest improvements.
It made 65 recommendations, which were dismissed as ‘outdated’ by Julian Hunte, who replaced Gordon soon after the report was commissioned.
Former Windies cricketer Charles Wilkin also submitted a report suggesting improvements to regional cricket, and it was also rejected by previous CWI administrations.
BCA chief Riley lashes out at CWI over Pybus, Browne axing
Wed, Apr 17, '19
ST JOHN'S, Antigua (CMC) – Outspoken Cricket West Indies (CWI) director Conde Riley has slammed the regional governing body's decision to axe the entire coaching staff of the men's senior side ahead of the World Cup, and has warned that the sweeping personnel changes announced last week could “destabilise the whole process” heading into the ICC showpiece next month.
In a controversial radio interview here which revealed fractures within the CWI directorate, Riley said while new CWI president Ricky Skerritt was free to implement changes, he was not in support of making them so close to a major tournament and especially after West Indies' outstanding results against England in the recent home series.
CWI last week removed interim head coach Richard Pybus and his support staff of Vasbert Drakes, Toby Radford and Esuan Crandon. Former West Indies batsman Floyd Reifer was named to replace Pybus, while Roddy Estwick, Corey Collymore and Rayon Griffith will serve as assistant coaches.
“It is not about the termination of Vasbert Drakes so much, but more importantly where the team is at this time having reclaimed the Wisden Trophy. England are number one in ODI cricket and we tied with them,” Riley told Observer Radio here in a telephone interview.
“My own feelings are that the timing is off. I felt we should have gone off to the World Cup [without changing the coaches]. I think the players were in a good space, Mr Pybus's appointment was interim… we had put a succession planning system in place where we interviewed nine regional coaches and short-listed five and those were the people that we would look to to take the team forward,” charged Riley.
Alzarri Joseph is likely to join Mumbai Indians' injury bench after hurting his bowling arm during Saturday's clash against Rajasthan Royals. ESPNcricinfo understands that Joseph has a tear in his right arm, which he dislocated while diving on the field, and will miss the remainder of the tournament.
Joseph himself was a replacement for New Zealand's Adam Milne, who didn't arrive after suffering from a swollen heel. Milne had been bought at the December auction for for INR 75 lakhs (US $104,000 approx). As per the rules, the replacement also gets the same amount.
This has been a difficult year for Joseph already. In February, he lost his mother in the middle of his maiden home Test in Antigua, where he'd dismissed Joe Denly off the first delivery. He opted to play the Test, displaying a lot of character in West Indies' series win against England.
Joseph's IPL sojourn lasted a week. He announced himself on April 6 spectacularly by picking the IPL's best bowling figures of 6 for 12 in 3.4 overs to deliver an away win against against Sunrisers Hyderabad. His performance is the best bowling figures in the IPL, breaking the eleven-year-old record held by Sohail Tanvir (6 for 14). Three days later, Joseph hit the winning runs against Kings XI Punjab in his first home game. However, he had just bowled two overs in which he had given 22 runs, going wicketless.
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