Darren Bravo - West Indies' Messiah

Tue, Dec 10, '13

Ian Bishop -- former West Indies pacer, now incisive cricket analyst -- during a commentary stint in the Caribbean a few years ago, related that Darren Bravo, in the days when he was dreaming of representing the regional team, would hurry to the Queens Park Oval early on the mornings following international matches. His mission was to locate the ceremonial man-of-the-match cheques, from which he would erase the name of whoever won the award and inscribe his own. It was as a way of a glancing into the future, to the day when he would be called up to accept his own accolade.

The Trinidadian has since earned his own official awards for being the best performer in a game, and if justice were always dispensed infallibly, would have won his first in Tests at the conclusion of the recent match against New Zealand at the University Oval in Dunedin. The many fans that voiced their disappointment on social media and elsewhere that the left-hander was bypassed for the award might even have been inclined, if it were possible, to remove Ross Taylor's name from the trophy and replace it with Bravo's, for he was the more deserving.