So it has finally dawned upon Carl Hooper that his presence in
the West Indies cricket team was denying a young talent the
opportunity to play.
My only problem with ?Hoops? facing reality was his timing. I
would have figured that after being informed that he was being
sacked as the captain, then the correct thing to do was to ask not
to be selected and not wait ?til he was included in the squad and
then pull out at the last minute. But then again he has done it
more than once in the past. Either that or, because of the absence
of Sarwan, hold on in the team and then quit after the Australia
tour.
The name Carl Llewellyn Hooper ignites heated debates in Guyana
and throughout the region like no other present day cricketer.
Just when it seemed the region?s most talked about, most
criticized, and most elegant batsman was enjoying a second breath
in his rollercoaster career and molding a young team into a
fighting unit, the 36-year-old all-rounder was sacked as West
Indies skipper and replaced by 33-year-old Brian Lara.
West Indies batsmen Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds and Marlon Samuels
have found themselves on the wrong side of the authorities after
two separate incidents at last month's World Cup tournament and a
scathing report from team manager Ricky Skerritt could have been
part of the reason Gayle was axed from the first Test squad.
The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and chief selector Viv
Richards have publicly made it known that Gayle's choice to play in
the Double Wicket World Cup instead of the Carib Beer finals was
among the reasons he was not chosen but, according to information
reaching CaribbeanCricket.com, that is only partially
true.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul scored the third fastest hundred in Test
history to keep West Indies' hopes alive in the first Test against
Australia in Georgetown, Guyana.
Australia, celebrating captain Steve Waugh's world record 157th
Test appearance, was still in control as it reached 120 for one at
the close in reply to West Indies' 237 all out, with Justin Langer
unbeaten on 55 and Ricky Ponting on 46.
The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has finally broken its
silence on the issue of Chris Gayle's eligibility for selection,
ruling that Gayle did get "tacit, if not explicit, permission" to
play in the double-wicket competition.
After a review of reports from JCA boss Jackie Hendriks and
Chris Gayle, the board decided "Gayle should continue to be
eligible for selection" for the Test and ODI series against
Australia.
