The year 1996 was a great year for sports. The cricket World Cup, Olympics Games, European football championships and Chicago Bulls produced a then NBA basketball record, winning 72 games that season.
Seeing all those 1996 sports events set off my path from sports fan to professionally in sports journalism and public relations.
I mention this to highlight that it’s 100 per cent clear to me that the modern “West Indies selection” trivialities are unique in global sports. It’s no longer a case where one can use the clichés; it's simply a case of selectors' opinion and Caribbean people can’t expect them to pick West Indies teams that attain full agreement.
It’s very possible for myself and many astute sports fans to watch all teams in the NBA, English Premier League, other international cricket teams or at a FIFA World Cup and get a clear idea of the best starting XI or five.
These teams still elicit media and fan discussion over player selection. However, it never descends to the current Windies selection malaise since the rise of T20 cricket leagues in 2009, where chosen teams never gets 90-100 per cent support from all stakeholders.
As noted on another publication - https://m.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/127188/has-the-time-come-to-end-the-west-indies-experiment - observing CWI internally from 2019-2023 after previously in sports media from 2010-2019, fundamentally leads me to believe due to the modern dynamics of international cricket, unfortunately, despite who is in charge, the “Caribbean cricket” ecosystem cannot be fixed, whether the quasi-national “West Indies” construct is maintained or broken up voluntarily or by market forces.
However, doing the simple global sports concept of “picking your best team” should not be hard for West Indies cricket to accomplish.
What are the best West Indies XIs?
The reality is that selectors don’t objectively know and can’t currently select West Indies teams that will gain unanimous media and fan support. These suggested hypothetical XIs across might have been universally accepted if things were perfect but erudite West Indies observers know there is no chance of these teams ever taking the field.
T20
King, Hope, Pooran (wicketkeeper), Hetmyer, Powell (captain), Holder, Russell, Narine, Hosein, Joseph, McCoy
Reserves: Rutherford, Allen, Shepherd, Drakes
ODI
Lewis, Hope (captain/wicketkeeper), King, Pooran, Hetmyer, Mayers, Holder, Shepherd, Hosein, Joseph, McCoy
Reserves: Carty, Paul, Motie, Seales
TEST
K Braithwaite (Captain), T Chanderpaul, Bravo, Hope, Hetmyer, Pooran (wicketkeeper), Holder, Hosein, Joseph, Roach, Seales
Reserves: King, Mayers, Cornwall, Gabriel, Da Silva
General selection problems:
The role of “selectors” no longer works in the unique dynamics of the West Indies cricket multi-national construct. The former Ricky Skerritt administration's “selection review” task force implementation regrettably hasn’t been able to cure this problem.
That review outside of the five Governance task force documents since 1992 was arguably the most consequential administrative document in recent CWI history.
Caribbean cricket media and fans can attest to the complete trust breakdown in West Indies selection process since 2009 and why such a task force, that no cricket board globally had done before, was needed.
Since 2009 West Indies have tried two “legends' Clive Lloyd & Desmond Haynes, a highly respected player, Roger Harper, and two players who didn’t succeed at the international level in Clyde Butts and Courtney Brown, for the polarizing role of chairman of selectors. None led to the improvement in West Indies results.
Given the long-standing issue of insularity, currently having two selectors from Barbados in Desmond Haynes and Roland Butcher is unsustainable. Despite the gentleman’s potential good intentions - their presence is exasperating insularity feelings and bias in selection, whether real or perceived.
Roger Harper lost his job after the West Indies were eliminated from the 2021 T20 World Cup group stage - however Desmond Haynes still remains despite selecting teams that failed to qualify for the 2022 T20 and ongoing 50 overs World Cups.
A good example of this current case was when new white ball coach Darren Sammy, on appointment in May, saying he had in-depth conversations with Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Evin Lewis and Shimron Hetmyer about playing for West Indies.
However, only Hetmyer has returned and selector Haynes said in his last public press conference in July, that Russell and Narine, who had just shown their quality in TKR’s run to CPL final, were not in his conversations.
https://x.com/caribcricket/status/1686128090324320257?s=46
This is basic deja’ vu. Many will recall a similar coach clash over players with selectors/administrators. During Phil Simmons’ first stint as coach he was comically suspended in 2015 for simply saying he wanted to select the best players.
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/phil-simmons-suspended-as-west-indies-coach-924039
Also at domestic level there isn’t a clear alignment in picking teams for West Indies in mind, but rather for national interest to win the four-day and 50 over’s tournaments.
To highlight two quotes from Daren Ganga who called out this issue in Trinidad & Tobago via a public Facebook post a few months ago:
“Please focus on using retainer contracts to develop and reward younger cricketers and stop using for senior players who are underperforming and have non contention to play for West Indies.”
“West Indies cricket is declining and our national selectors are directly contributing to the further demise of the game.”
Copying the English system:
Since the rise of T20s in 2009 and the decline in domestic standards since the PCL revamp in 2014, West Indies selectors have erred more on the side of conservative selections. They have never truly been innovative in picking players away from statistical performances in a poor domestic system or picking players for Test cricket based on international limited overs form like other nations have attempted.
That factor has led to the current predicament of having only two all-format players, Jason Holder and Alzarri Joseph. The West Indies talent pool isn’t big enough to allow further continuing of this systematic selection faux pas.
The English strategy of empowering the coach to be a selector with scouts around nations assisting should be implemented. Under Director of Cricket Rob Key in April 2021, the ECB made the role of selector redundant for 19 months, overseeing a period where the much-hyped “Bazball” Test cricket was implemented and England winning the 2022 T20 World Cup.
Afterwards, despite success Luke Wright was appointed selector in November 2022,
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/luke-wright-named-as-england-men-s-new-selector-1345988
That approach seems perfect for the West Indies, where the coach would have sole selection authority like a football manager with support of the captain and Caribbean-wide scouting network support system. Then Desmond Haynes and any of the “legends” can be used in a more productive role, rather than the outdated and impossible West Indies context job of “selector”.
Colin Benjamin was a Cricket West Indies communications officer from 2019-2023. He has covered West Indies cricket for more than a decade for other global and Caribbean publications.
Pooran's blistering 61 not enough as Shai Hope's Capitals edge LSG by 19 runs to keep slim play-off hopes alive
Delhi Capitals defeated Lucknow Super Giants to boost their hopes of making the Indian Premier League play-offs.
The Capitals claimed a 19-run victory on Tuesday, with Abishek Porel (58) and Tristan Stubbs (57 not out) starring.
Their efforts propelled Delhi to 208-4 from their 20 overs, with Shai Hope (38) and Rishabh Pant (33) chipping in with useful contributions as LSG's bowling attack struggled badly. Hope faced 27 balls and had three fours and two sixes in his knock.
Nicholas Pooran top-scored with a 27-ball 61 in Lucknow's chase, while Arshad Khan plundered an unbeaten 58, yet it was not enough, with the Super Giants only able to reach 189-9 in response. Pooran's knock included six fours and four maximums, while Khan had three fours and five sixes in his 33-ball knock.
Shai Hope found his range after a quiet start.
Ishant Sharma, with 3-34, was the pick of the Capitals' bowlers, as they must now wait and see if Chennai Super Kings or Sunrisers Hyderabad slip up enough to send Delhi into the top four.
LSG are down in seventh, and they must beat Mumbai Indians heavily in their last match to stand any chance of making the play-offs.
Data Debrief: Ishant hits double figures... again
Introduced as the impact player, Ishant fulfilled his duty with three swift wickets inside his first three overs, with Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul and Deepak Hood all taken out.
Ishant has now taken 10 wickets this season, and is onto 93 across his entire IPL career. It is the sixth season Ishant has reached double figures for wickets, and his second in a row.
Afridi lauds 'world class' Babar and Rizwan as Pakistan win Ireland series
Shaheen Afridi lauded Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan as "world class" after the pair guided Pakistan to a T20I series victory over Ireland on Tuesday.
Babar's side were defeated in the first meeting with Ireland last week but responded with two convincing chases to secure a 2-1 triumph.
Ireland captain Lorcan Tucker's 73 helped his side to set a target of 179 in the winner-takes-all-decider, but Pakistan had little trouble in easing to a six-wicket victory with 18 balls to spare.
Rizwan, who managed an unbeaten 75 in the second meeting, crafted a well-made 56, while Babar carried Pakistan to within touching distance after his 42-ball 75.
Big-hitter Azam Khan blasted 18 off just six deliveries to see the visitors over the line, though Afridi was quick to credit the work of the two experienced Pakistan campaigners.
"For us, before the World Cup, it's important to have these games to ready ourselves and there are a few areas to improve," said Afridi, who impressed with 3-14 in the first innings.
"They're both world-class players [Babar and Rizwan]; they know how to play their role and they have done really well on this pitch."
Babar bludgeoned four of his five sixes off Ben White's bowling in the 14th over, while sharing 139 runs with the in-form Rizwan for the second wicket.
"We had good communication in the middle because we have played a lot of cricket together; we were trying to play on our strengths and the aim was to match with the run rate," Babar added.
"Lots of positives for us to take and we were able to execute our plans.
"We have a big tournament coming up and this is good practice; we are now looking forward to the England series."
Mark Adair was the only Ireland bowler to impress with his economical 3-28, though Tucker was still satisfied with his side's efforts.
"It was brilliant and a great privilege to captain," Tucker said at the post-match presentation. "It would have been nice to start with a win.
"We set up a platform nicely but unfortunately, we couldn't finish well. We gave everyone a go with the ball. Credit to the lads, they bowled well in tough conditions.
"Maybe it was a bit disappointing with the result but we had positives from the series."
IPL: KKR ensured top-two spot after washout
The first abandoned game of the Indian Premier League ensures Kolkata Knight Riders will finish in the top two and Gujarat Titans’ elimination from playoff contention.
A combination of lightning and rain meant there was not even a toss, with the intense storm ripping banners from the stands, which later wrapped around the floodlights.
KKR had all but ensured a place in the top two due to their dominating net run-rate, but a 19th point of the season confirmed it, leaving them with one game to try and clinch top spot for the first time.
The Titans needed to win their final two games to give themselves any hope of reaching the playoffs, though it would have proven tough for the side with the lowest net run-rate in the league.
It is the first time GT have failed to make the playoffs since they joined the competition before the 2022 season.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
