ICC must intervene in Cricket West Indies

THE EDITOR, Madam:

We would 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 beat us before the series even begins. No one player is bigger than West Indies, but the last straw is in their media release of Dowrich’s retirement announcement, indicating that a replacement won’t be named.

What 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. How about selecting Darren Bravo as his replacement. Cricket West Indies (CWI) has the gall to say in a tribute to Dowrich that a replacement will not be selected.

How could Dowrich 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 team, 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 decides to retire after being selected for a such big series against England; that says something is terribly wrong, and the players know it.

Dowrich doesn’t want to be 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 backup wicketkeeper, due to Pooran’s unavailability. The real outrage should be Carty’s selection over Bravo as a specialist batsman, because he needs to prove his worth, which he hasn’t – same with Athanaze – in ODIs, that is.

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 International Cricket Council needs to intervene to sort out the affairs of the CWI.

KENDELL KARAN

Chaguanas

Trinidad and Tobago