A Raw Deal for B'dos?

Last Monday I was a guest on Jeff Broome?s 'Tell It Like It Is' VOB program. Needless to state, the topic was cricket.

The callers including regulars such as the economist, Julian Hunte, and Mr St Andrew spoke passionately and convincingly, but there was one recurring theme ? the perception that there is a plot/strategy/conspiracy to exclude Barbadians from the West Indies team.

Some wondered if it was payback time for the years Barbados dominated the regional team. But their concern was no surprise to me since this column had questioned why Sherwin Campbell hadn?t been included for the tour of Sri Lanka.

In fact, that discourse included the statistics of his competitors ? Gayle, Garrick, Ganga, Hinds and Williams. Sherwin eclipsed them in all average, highest score and number of centuries. The following table shows the statistics of openers in the West Indies.

Campbell: 54 matches, 882 runs, avg. 32.38


Ganga: 15 matches, 563 runs, avg. 20.85


Gayle: 18 matches, 893 runs, avg. 29.76


Williams: 30 matches, 1,161 runs, avg. 24.18

Based on the above record, can any of the selectors state why Campbell is not in the current team? Furthermore, after his return from Sharjah he scored two centuries in three matches. It would take Campbell about an hour to record his average score of 32 runs. By that time the shine is off the new ball and the opening bowlers are tiring.

The stage is set for the stroke players Sarwan, Lara, and Hooper to play their natural game. Too often our number three batsman is obliged to open because we lose an early wicket. Bearing the above in mind, there must be an overriding factor, other than cricket, which sidelines the Barbadian.

Readers should also recall the strong rumour last year that Barbados was not originally selected for a Test match against the Springboks. However, Prime Minister Owen Arthur was proactive and from far away in China he made sure Barbados would host a Test match.

Ryan Hinds now enters the equation. He went as a replacement to Sri Lanka for the Limited Overs matches, but was left out of the team in favour of McGarrell. However, in his first match he scored 50 and demonstrated that he was ready for the big league.

Tony Cozier said on radio that a Sri Lankan commentator was so impressed with the young player that he asked him where Ryan was all the time. He could not imagine that the Windies had just lost the Test series 2-0, and Hinds was not even included in the test squad.

Moreover, at the end of the tour captain Hooper himself singled our Ryan Hinds for praise. It is therefore ironic that we have competed two Tests, and the same Hinds is still working at the laundry-carrying towels.

But we should not blame the regional selectors altogether for the marginalisation of Barbadian players. The local selectors by their myopic policies have also "contributed in no small measure to the non-inclusion" of Barbadians.

Last year, they dropped Corey Collymore thereby eliminating him from the Test series against the Springboks. Despite Holding?s timely warning that if he was not good enough for Barbados he was not good enough for the Windies, the selectors refused to play him in the final against Jamaica. He played in the second last one day and immediately made his mark by raising the standard of our attack.

Tino Best is regarded as one of the quickest bowlers in the region. Again, the local selectors misread the script and dropped the young man. As I stated on radio, this is akin to an automatic disqualification in the eyes of the regional selectors.

I also stuck my neck out that West Indies would win with four or five wickets to spare, and Lara would be not out at the end. Of course, the Indians cut my head off.

Lara and Hooper were not out Monday, but it seemed that Adams and Hooper resumed on Tuesday. That batsman was not my prince who had detoxified the wily Muralitheran. Boycott kept saying that Lara would treat Harbergin Singh just as he had done the Sri Lankan. But I saw Lara (or was it Adams) padding up and playing maidens to Singh.

Where was the scintillating and rampaging Lara whose dazzling footwork had electrified fans around the world and knocked Shane Warne out of the Australian side in 1998?

In February 2000, and again in January last year, this column recommended neutral umpires for all international matches. I was therefore delighted that an Australian and Sri Lankan were selected for the first two matches.

But alas! My pleasure was short-lived as I witnessed the most inept display of umpiring I had ever seen. There were so many bloops and blunders that I was disappointed when Dravid was named Man-Of-The-Match. If the honour is still given to the person who has contributed the most to the outcome of a match, then the umpire should have been the undisputed winner of that award.

* SOURCE: Barbados Nation.