TTCB officials upset at Bryan Charles snubbing from Headley-Weekes series

Fri, Apr 14, '23

THE non-inclusion of Trinidad and Tobago off-spinner Bryan Charles from the three-team Headley-Weekes triangular series to crown off the CWI regional four-day tournament has drawn a furious reaction from local cricket officials.

Five TT players – Joshua Da Silva, Anderson Phillip, Darren Bravo, Joshua James and Keagan Simmons – were named in the squads for the tournament, which gets under way from April 19 to May 6, at the Coolidge Cricket Ground (CCG) in Antigua.

Red Force coach David Furlonge said, “It is disappointing to say the least. There is no justifiable reason why Bryan Charles was not considered, especially after his consistent performance during the recent season where he picked up 21 wickets and finished fourth in the averages.”

He said the 27 year old who plays for Queen’s Park Cricket Club should have an automatic selection having been a regular in the West Indies “A” team set-up last year when he played against Bangladesh.

Instead Barbadian Chaim Holder, 29, with 18 scalps for Barbados including nine wickets in one match, appears to have been given the nod ahead of the Trinidadian by chief selector Desmond Haynes, and his compatriot Roland Butcher.

Furlonge on Wednesday said the selection policy was not consistent with the stated objective of the Headley-Weekes teams being picked “from the leading performers in the 2023 West Indies Championship and those deemed to be on the fringe of the Test team.”