Wired868 Wired868 for smart sport news and opinion
“People are like animals,” a long-running promo for the two weekly I-Sports programmes asserts, “and sometimes they need to be treated that way on I-Sports.”
The Reckless One, who hosts the bi-weekly sessions, has launched a public campaign for us all to boycott this month’s two West Indies versus England T20 matches at the Brian Lara Academy.
(Copyright Daniel Prentice/ Wired868)
The reason? Darren Bravo topped the batting in the recently concluded Regional Super50 Trophy Tournament. But he has been omitted from the 15-member West Indies squad to take on England in the three-match series, which started on Sunday with a four-wicket West Indies win.
The 34-year-old Trinidad and Tobago Red Force captain, who overall has 3,104 international runs in 117 innings with four centuries and 18 half-centuries in the format, also gave a good account of himself in last year’s tournament.
In his last 26 ODI innings for the regional side, however, he has only managed 504 runs—including one century and 10 single-digit scores—at an average of just under 20.
In my view, the Feckless One’s proposal is simply wrong. On so many levels. Even if you examined it through the microscope equivalent of Hubble, you’d find nothing remotely resembling a principle.
Except to the extent that give a dog a bad name and hang him qualifies as a principle.
But where the Tearless One really outdoes himself is in his highlighting of the circumstances under which Desmond Haynes left West Indies cricket as a player. The aggressive former opener was 39 years old in 1995 when, omitted from the squad for the home Test series against Australia, he sued the WICBC for a king’s ransom.
Well do I remember the high-profile, protracted lawsuit and the fact that Haynes eventually collected a hefty sum. But he never again wore the Maroon. And we never again wore the World Champions crown.
After Mark Taylor’s men defeated Richie Richardson’s side, the Maroon Men lost the magic, the proud decades-old run of not being bested in a Test series ended.
Completely irrelevant? Perhaps.
Who really knows the cumulative cost of peccadilloes? The then chairman of selectors? The current CWI caretakers? The Clueless One? Who really cares?
For the Cheerless One, there seems to be little doubt that current lead selector Haynes has it in for Trinbagonians. Why else would he leave out the back-in-form 34-year-old left-hander?
Bravo scored 139 runs off 113 balls.
Photo: Daniel Prentice/ Wired868
I can’t imagine. Especially as he opted for another almost 34-year-old left-hander in the party ahead of Bravo.
But who is this Kjorn Ottley who took Bravo’s place? Where is he from? He too is from Trinidad and Tobago. Oops! Sort of an inconvenient truth, no?
That does not stop the Artless One in his tracks. Little apparently does.
Two recent Wired868 stories contain references to Haynes but I have not heard the Peerless One refer to either. On Sunday, non-Trinbagonian writer Colin Benjamin made a connection between Sunil Narine’s recent departure from the Test arena and an untimely Haynes declaration that the T&T mystery off-spinner was “not in his plans”.
On Wednesday, Trinbagonian sportswriter Joel Bailey went out of his way to mention two interesting tidbits involving Trinbagonian selections by Haynes that didn’t quite work out.
First, there was the recall of out-of-favour opening batsman Evin Lewis. Then there was the call-up of the previously uncapped “limited leg-spinning all-rounder Yannic Cariah”.
(Copyright Daniel Prentice/ Wired868)
Bailey seemed to be signalling incompetence rather than anti-Trini bias. But who dares exclude the possibility of a Careless One twisting the stories to take out of them some devious plot by Haynes to embarrass the two ultimately disappointing Trinis?
Another recent Wired868 post deserves mention here. A Kendell Karan Letter to the Editor correctly notes that the belated announcement of Shane Dowrich’s retirement gave “Haynes (…) a golden opportunity to save his backside”.
After all, the news conference had made clear that Dowrich had been selected as a middle-order batsman. Bravo the Younger would slot easily into the now vacant place and all would be fine.
(Copyright AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Haynes spurned the opportunity, a CWI media release “indicating that a replacement won’t be named” .
“What the hell,” an exasperated Karan asked, “is that supposed to mean?”
Well, frankly, one of two things. Either Haynes genuinely believes that Bravo is not up to it and is determined to spare him the embarrassment. Or, alternatively, he is convinced that if the talented stroke-player gets the chance to embarrass him, he will, and is determined to spare himself the embarrassment.
Bravo, of “Big idiot” infamy, won’t be able either to tell him on Instagram where to stick his offer of the 16th or 17th place in the squad. Or to accept it and score a brilliant hundred against a rampant England attack.
Another unforgettable Trini moment to savour: Yeah Dessie Talk Nah. With the Tactless One leading the cheering.
On i95.5fm on Friday morning, the Heirless One made much of the fact that there has been no response from CWI to I-Sports’ query about whether the decision to omit Bravo was unanimous.
The deliberations of the selection panel have always been secret. In my view, one should be celebrating the consistency. But, one has to ask, how is unanimity or otherwise material here?
And why is there interest in that aspect of the deliberations as far as Bravo is concerned and not as far as Keacy Carty, Alick Athanaze or Justin Greaves goes? Or Ottley? Or Dowrich? Or anyone else?
What is the relevance of who voted for whom?
(Copyright SW Londoner)
To close, let’s be very clear: I have long been an admirer of Darren Bravo’s batting. And Desmond Haynes’. But I hold no brief for either the lead selector or the T&T captain.
Trinbagonian by birth, I am West Indian by choice.
Had Trinbagonian Bravo made the cut, I should have had no problem with the decision. He has not made the cut; I have no problem with the regional selectors’ choice.
The Shameless One has no problem trying to drive a stake between the two-island state and the archipelago to which it properly belongs.
(Copyright AFP 2017/Jewel Samad)
To what end? Beats me.
But no would-be misleader will keep me away from Tarouba if the spirit moves me to make the detour on the day.
Or railroad me, lemming-like, over an insular cliff.
If I-Sports equates people to animals, it may be because the Clueless One is emphatically not equal to the task of leading people.
As if West Indies cricket does not already have enough problems, what with our failure to qualify for the last Read more
It was a pleasant surprise to find myself so eager to watch the First Test match between the West Indies Read more
“[…] Whether or not we change Phil Simmons is irrelevant to me. Don’t get me wrong, I think he reached Read more
“As far as I can tell there are not many other people working effectively to [restore the soul of West Read more
“It is bad captaincy that is causing us to be scrambled, everybody is whispering and shrugging shoulders. ... In this campaign Read more
In 1976, Tobago-born Owen Thompson was but a boy of 14 when Greg Chappell’s Australia put a 5-1 merciless whipping Read more
Earl Best taught cricket, French, football and Spanish at QRC for many years and has written consistently for the Tapia and the Trinidad and Tobago Review since the 1970’s.
He is also a former sports editor at the Trinidad Guardian and the Trinidad Express and is now a senior lecturer in Journalism at COSTAATT.
