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By his own admission a man of few words, Sunil Narine once found enough of them to point accusing fingers at the TTCB and its president. Azim Bassarath had emailed TTCB board members using language that highly offended the then high-profile national player.
“Let him start to Bowl !!!!!!” the player contended the president had written. “He was not turning much in d first place!!!!! Straight ball and faster one all the time. !!!! PELTING !!!!!!!”
Responding to those 23 words, Narine released a statement from which we need extract just these 25 pithy words: “[I]t seems that (Mr Bassarath) must have long believed that my bowling action was illegal, and there was such venom and almost joy in my being suspended.”
The player called for a high-level investigation to determine whether the offending words, contained in an email sent from an address known to be the president’s, were indeed Bassarath’s brainchild.
Nobody wants to stoke old fires or to wake sleeping dogs. But I deliberately choose to begin with that 2015 incident, which is a matter of record.
The reason is to reinforce the contention that the now retired 35-year-old off-spinner probably did not enjoy the best relationship with regional cricketing authorities. Since one hand cyar clap, is it also probably true that regional cricket may not have got the best out of the cricketer who promised much more than he was eventually allowed to deliver.
(Copyright Nicholas Bhajan/CA-Images/Wired868)
The highly regarded “mystery” bowler has rarely represented the regional team in recent times. But there are those who argue he is the best West Indies off-spinner since Guyana’s Lance Gibbs hung up his boots in the 1970s after replacing Trinidad and Tobago’s Sonny Ramadhin at the end of the decade of the 1950s.
He played his last Test match almost ten years ago in December 2013, his last One-day International match more than seven years ago in October 2016 and his last T20 International over four years ago before Covid in August 2019.
His appearances tally reads six Tests, 65 ODIs and 51 T20Is. That is certainly nowhere near the numbers his demonstrated talent and ICC rankings over the years suggest he should have accumulated in 12 years of availability for the West Indies.
Narine played a total of 483 T20s and captured no fewer than 525 wickets. So 21 Test wickets, 92 ODI scalps and 52 T20I victims for West Indies seems like paltry returns indeed.
(Copyright AFP 2014/ Michael Bradley)
One would think a player of Narine’s proven ability would not have found himself so often on the sidelines of the team. Other names often appeared where one would have expected to see his.
Still, it is hard to understand why he was repeatedly overlooked for selection, especially given the struggles we have seen the team go through in the various formats in the last decade.
I submit that it is the broken West Indies system that has hampered the player’s ability to contribute to the max. President Bassarath and the TTCB are not the only officials with whom he has had history.
Another personality with whom Narine had an energy-sapping encounter is Richard Pybus. That incident occurred in 2014, the same year WI white ball captain Dwayne Bravo brought his men home prematurely from India, leading to the Board incurring a US$42m debt and most of the elite Caribbean cricketers ending their WIPA membership.
Pybus inexplicably suggested that Narine turn down an opportunity to represent his franchise in that year’s IPL final and come home to prepare for the New Zealand tour.
Narine baulked, Pybus, easily the worst Director of Cricket CWI has ever had, insisted. Narine told him where to put his demand and went on to be part of the Kolkata Knight Riders’ three-wicket win over the Punjab Kings.
(Copyright Rahul Gulati / Sportzpics for IPL)
A regular across formats ever since his white ball debut in an ODI against India in 2011 and then his Test debut against England in mid-2012, Narine was not selected for the series, which West Indies lost 1-2. After that, he never played another Test.
Interestingly, no pressure was put on the New Zealand players involved in the later stages of the IPL. They were allowed to stay on until they were no longer needed and then—and only then—report for tour duty.
Narine’s omission affected West Indies in more than one way. In those days, Narine was at his most devastating and many of the international batsmen were quite unable to pick his bowling.
(Copyright AFP 2016/Punit Paranjpe)
His presence could arguably have tipped the series in the home team’s favour.
Secondly, Narine’s omission and subsequent sidelining opened the door to a number of second-rate offspinners who at their best were simply not on Narine’s level. But they were given places on the West Indies team while the region’s number one all-formats spinner twiddled his thumbs instead of potentially challenging Lance Gibbs’ record of 309 Test wickets
It was shortly after the end of that fateful 2014 year that Narine was first reported for a suspect bowling action. The lack of official support led him off on a path to becoming a globe-trotting Twenty20 cricket legend instead of a West Indies all-formats regular.
(Courtesy Sean Morrison/Wired868)
As discussed, Narine was disappointed with the reaction at home. In what was a very difficult time for him, he found himself leaning more and more for support on his Knight Riders franchise.
In a rare interview with ESPN Cricinfo in August 2022, he explained that for a long time, he “was not seeing the end of the tunnel”.
“Honestly, probably three years ago, I wasn’t enjoying cricket; it was tough. I was unsure of what to do. I maybe could have said it’s time to call it quits and not damage my legacy. But talking to close friends, especially [Kieron] Pollard, he said: ‘You are someone who doesn’t give up, so don’t give up now’.”
(via CWI Media)
Having abandoned WIPA, many of the players put their representation in the hands of some of cricket’s best sports agents, particularly UK-based Insignia Sports led by Englishman Eddie Tolchard. Narine credits his relationship with his agent for his being able, at a time when the ICC had begun a global crackdown on suspect bowling actions, to avoid a career-ending bowling ban.
A pair of West Indies selectors also contributed, albeit indirectly, to Narine’s decision to call it a day. Having missed out on the World Cup triple treat in 2016, Narine felt confident that he would be a part of the squad for the 2021 Twenty20 World Cup.
Under Pollard’s captaincy, all of the top white ball and T20 players were back in the team. The selectors opted to omit Narine.
(Copyright CPL T20 Ltd 2021)
The faces of the selection committee changed at the beginning of 2022. And when Darren Sammy assumed the responsibility for coaching the white ball teams in mid-2023, he was reported to have had discussions with several of the players.
In July, chief selector Desmond Haynes revealed that Narine, who had just shown his usual quality in Trinbago Knight Riders’ run to the CPL final, was not in his plans.
It seems likely that, despite the conversation he had had with Sammy, Narine saw Haynes’ comment as a clear signal that he would not be playing for West Indies again and decided to retire.
It seems useful to speculate on the reason Narine made himself available to play in the recently concluded Super50. West Indies didn’t qualify for the just concluded World Cup and won’t be playing in the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Is it conceivable that Narine felt compelled to have his final moment in the Caribbean cricket sun wearing the Red and Black of Trinidad and Tobago rather than the maroon of West Indies?
Is there perhaps a message about loyalty hidden in that choice for the young players who aspire to represent the region? Actions after all, speak far, far louder than words.
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Colin Benjamin is a former communications officer for Cricket West Indies and Trinidad and Tobago Professional Football League club, W Connection FC.
If god give west indies a gift which is narine and they fail to utilize it well they deserve to be in the level they are
Match fixing is not only carried out by players. There are other officials ( me eh calling no name) who for some “inexplicable” reason always obstruct the selection process and allow a lest than the best team to be selected. This has been happening over and over again, administrated by people who we know, know better.
They can’t be doing it for free. It must be that someone is being payed to keep a certain cricket team in the doldrums.
So are you saying, Colin, that the “someone (who) is being paid” is an official or an administrator of the “certain cricket team”?