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“[…] The last straw is in [the CWI’s] media release of Shane Dowrich’s retirement announcement, indicating that a replacement won’t be named. What the hell is that supposed to mean?
“[…] Every squad announced by the West Indies is supposed to have reserve players selected. It’s a home series for God’s sake! How about selecting Daren Bravo as his damn replacement?! […]”
The following Letter to the Editor on the West Indies ODI squad to face England—and the continuing omission of batsman Darren Bravo—was submitted to Wired868 by Kendell Karan of Chaguanas:
I’d like to thank Shane Dowrich for his services to West Indies Cricket, and, as a die-hard fan, respect his decision to retire from international duty.
The toxicity in the region is evidenced by the natural gas emitting from under Tobago, you could feel it—like we’re asking England to beat us before the series even begins.
No one player is bigger than West Indies, but the last straw is in [the CWI’s] media release of Dowrich’s retirement announcement, indicating that a replacement won’t be named.
What the hell is that supposed to mean?
When a player is injured, a replacement is named in the squad. Every squad announced by the West Indies is supposed to have reserve players selected. It’s a home series for God’s sake!
How about selecting Daren Bravo as his damn replacement?! (Chief selector) Desmond Haynes had a golden opportunity to save his backside, and CWI have the gall to say in a tribute to Shane Dowrich that a replacement will not be selected?!
How could Shane perform in an environment like this? It must still be on his mind why he was dropped in the first place. It must be burning his noggin that people say he didn’t deserve selection in the ODI set-up, or he probably knows that he doesn’t deserve to be there and put West Indies Cricket first.
It’s very alarming that a player would decide to retire after being selected for such a big series against England—that says something is terribly wrong and the players know it.
Dowrich doesn’t want to be the centre of this drama, and deciding to walk away is in the best interest of his mental health.
The outrage about his selection over Bravo is not the issue either, but him being the favoured protagonist of alleged politics in the selection of players is a shocking case of bias beyond skin colour.
Perhaps Dowrich was selected to be the back-up wicketkeeper due to Nicholas Pooran’s unavailability. The real outrage should be Keacy Carty’s selection over Bravo as a specialist batsman, because he needs to prove his worth in ODIs, which he hasn’t—same with Alick Athanaze.
WI cannot solve our problems from within. West Indies ought to bat for Haynes for the England series, let the chips fall where they may.
Enough of this madness, WI are a spinning top in a volcano. Similar to Fifa appointing a normalisation committee to sort out Trinidad and Tobago’s football affairs, the ICC needs to intervene to sort out the affairs of CWI!
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Darren Bravo earned a play and he should have been selected . The selectors need replacing .
BOYCOTT!!!