The Trinidadian has described his first year as a West Indies cricketer as “up and down” after so far scoring 445 runs in 11 Tests, at an average of 24.72, with three fifties to his name.
The West Indian first-class season is expected to get underway in February and Da Silva, speaking to the Trinidad and Tobago Express newspaper on Thursday, expressed his desire for a big season in 2022.
“The first-class season is coming up and I’m going to work very hard and try to score as many runs as I can so it is not a question of whether or not I will be in the starting eleven,” DaSilva said.
Da Silva has so far made 1317 runs in 28 first-class games with eight fifties and one hundred and wants to build on these numbers this season.
“I will just bat and make runs and let the selectors do their job and given the opportunity, I will just put my best foot forward for the region,” said Da Silva.
He'll be looking to follow up on a fantastic 2019/20 West Indies Championship campaign, which saw him vault into the Test setup after scoring 507 runs from eight matches, at an average of 50.70, with one hundred and three fifties.
Those 507 runs placed Da Silva fifth on the most runs list for that season.
In pursuit of the Leewards massive first innings total of 438 for 7 declared, Guyana were dismissed for 265, after Joseph did his part by ripping through the top order. Chanderpaul Hemraj led the resistance from the top of the innings but could not find steady partners before being himself being bowled for 50 by Jeremiah Louis.
Anthony Bramble took up the challenge next and added 58, while Gudakesh Motie made 49 at the bottom of the order but it was never close to being enough. In support of Joseph, Louis and Collin Archibald each claimed two wickets.
Earlier, resuming the day at 366 for 5, already with a lead of 250 runs, the team added another 72 before announcing their declaration. Ward, who resumed the day on 46, moved on to 78, following the departures of Rahkeem Cornwall, who only added two to his overnight 13, and Archibald who added a quick-fire 38.
For Guyana, Motie finished with figures of 3 for 111, while Nial Smith took 3 for 100.
Hetmyer had been dropped by the Windies ahead of an away series against Bangladesh after failing a fitness test and was expected to take his place with the Jaguars on Thursday.
However, according to the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), Hetmyer did not follow the protocol associated with contracted players not on West Indies duties ahead of the game.
“Players who are not on West Indies duties but are contracted to the West Indies are supposed to report to their franchise,” GCB Secretary Anand Sanasie was reported as saying.
“Since returning from West Indies duties he has not reported to the franchise for training … which automatically makes him unavailable,” said Sanasie.
Hetmyer and Windies opener Evin Lewis fell afoul of Windies’ fitness requirements but the team’s chief selector, Roger Harper, had said the Guyanese left-hander was well on his way to getting himself together.
With that in mind, Cricket West Indies had said Hetmyer and Lewis would have been retested in another two weeks.
Next week the Jaguars will go to Grenada where they take on the Windward Islands Volcanoes and Sanasie believes whenever Hetmyer makes himself available, he will be [art of the team.
“We wish him well. Once he has made himself available he would be selected to play for the franchise,” said Sanasie.
A franchise system was introduced to the regional cricket set-up approximately six years ago. It has led to teams taking part in the regional One Day and Four Day tournaments as clubs, as opposed to just countries.
For the most part, however, with a few exceptions, the franchises have remained mostly composed of players from the countries in which they are based. Benjamin believes some of that is due to a bit of nationalism, which he has pointed out is harmful to the professional set-up and the development of the game overall.
“One of the things in the Caribbean is that I think, patriotism is killing us. Sir Viv would know that when we go to England to play and when he played for Somerset and Glamorgan that’s where you play for and that’s where you represent because that’s where you are at that time. But I think in the Caribbean everybody wants to play for their country rather than play cricket and that is one of the problems we are facing,” Benjamin said in a recent interview with the Good Morning Jojo Sports Show.
“We need to be exposing our best players, it doesn’t matter where they come from and it would only make other players raise their standard. If we are playing mediocre players just because of where they come from then the standard isn’t going to rise,” he added.
In previous seasons, players like Guyana’s Assad Fudadin, Keron Cottoy and several others have represented teams outside of their country of birth, but they remain in the minority. Benjamin pointed to the case of Nicholas Pooran and Joshua Silver who both play for the Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel.
“You have Pooran and you have Da Silva but when you look at Da Silva and the type of cricketer he is, he is not a bad wicketkeeper either, so he could be pushing for one of the wicketkeeper spots as well. But what if you have the number one and number two wicketkeepers in Trinidad.”
