By Tony McWatt
“Knives for Roger Harper and his hallucinating band of selectors, aren’t yet drawn. But surely, they are being sharpened!”
Those were the words of the seasoned Jamaican cricket journalist Ray Ford, in reaction to the storm of controversy that has been created as a result of the choices made by Selections’ Chair Roger Harper and his Panel for the West Indies official squad of 15 plus four reserves to participate in the forthcoming ICC 2021 T20 World Cup. The 2021 ICC T20 World Cup will be held in the UAE from October 17 – November 13.
Further revelations from the most recent episodes of the West Indies World Cup Squad “selections soap opera,” would now suggest that the sharpened knives have since not only been drawn, but that it is now only a matter of time before they are used to pierce Harper’s tenure as Selections Chair causing terminal injury! As much has been made evident by the Guyana Cricket Board’s official reaction to the announced squad!
In questioning the omission of Sherfayne Rutherford among other Guyanese players from the announced World Cup Squad, the Guyana Cricket Board publicly stated the following:
“The GCB is perplexed with the contention by CWI selectors that Sherfane Rutherford is unfit. CWI should advise the Caribbean cricket public regarding the standard and schedule for fitness tests for regional cricketers.
The GCB holds the view that Rutherford is game-fit as clearly indicated by his outstanding performances in the 2021 Caribbean Premier League (CPL) and his selection to the Sunrisers Hyderbad team in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The GCB regards the issue of Rutherford’s fitness as an excuse to exclude one of the talented young cricketers in the Caribbean.
The CWI selection panel has disappointed Guyana and the Caribbean at large.
The GCB (as a shareholder of CWI) is insisting that the selection panel be accountable to all cricket institutions and stakeholders in the region and to justify this latest selection fiasco.
Failure to do so, the GCB calls on CWI to dismiss the selection panel and to replace it with a more competent one which will represent the best interests of West Indies cricket!”
In addition to the GCB’s issued statement several Caribbean Heads of States have also weighed in with their own criticisms of the selected squad. The respective Prime Ministers of Barbados and St Vincent, Mia Mottley and Ralph Gonsalves, as well as Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali have all expressed their profound disappointment and disagreement with some of the Harper led Selections Panel’s choices.
Further, the former West Indies fast bowling legendary great, Sir Andy Roberts, referred to the Selections Panel’s non-inclusion of Barbadian Jason Holder, within the final squad of fifteen and his relegation to the status of a mere reserve as “embarrassing!”
Holder holds the current ICC ranking as world cricket best all-rounder and is also the Cricket West Indies only all formats, Tests, ODIs and T20s contracted player.
Holder’s relegations as a reserve, the medical exemptions provided to Chris Gayle and Ravi Rampaul, as well as the reported non-consideration of Odean Smith and Sherfayne Rutherford as a result of their respective failures to meet the established fitness criteria for West Indies selection are uppermost among the many highly questionable World Cup related decisions made by Harper and his Panel.
It can now arguably be said that never before in Caribbean cricket’s history illustrious history has a selected West Indies squad caused such controversy. The very centre of which appears to be the glaringly apparent inconsistencies surrounding the fitness standards that were applied to determine selection, or conversely non-selection, of certain players to the squad.
Where is the consistency between the medical exemptions granted to Chris Gayle and Ravi Rampaul and the non-consideration of Smith and Rutherford for not having met the established fitness criteria?
That is the very simple question now being asked of Harper and his Panel. Shouldn’t “what’s good for the goose, also be given to the gander?”
Furthermore, as Sir Andy has also correctly reasoned as important a tournament as the T20 World Cup is, coupled by the fact that we are the reigning Champions seeking to defend our title, why are we even considering, let alone actually including players who are in need of medical exemptions?
The former West Indies opening batsman, Bryan Davis’ reaction to the fitness related decisions of Harper and his Panel was even more damning.
“This is dangerous territory we’re entering and the precedent being set for future selectors by the disqualification of young promising players while giving past successful players a medical exemption is a sign of dishonesty in selection policy. One is either fit enough to take his place in the team or he’s not. Every international cricketer walking out on that field to represent WI must deserve his place on the team by his performances and by extension his fitness. Equal status for all.”
To make matters even worse, Harper himself has also attracted the ire of former West Indies opening batsman Philo Wallace. The outspoken Wallace has highly criticized Harper’s self-admitted decision as Selection Chairman to leave the determination of Obed McCoy’s fitness readiness for the World Cup in the hands of Cricket West Indies’ Medical Committee.
As one of the designated death bowlers and hence a vital member of the West Indies’ World Cup bowling attack, McCoy has reportedly been suffering from recurring shin splints for some time now. His appearances in actual matches of late, including both those in the recent West Indies T2o Series against Australia and Pakistan as well as this year’s recently concluded CPL, can only best be described as having been sporadic.
According to Wallace such an important decision as a key bowler’s now highly questionable tournament fitness should be the responsibility of the Selection Chair not any medical panel. In addition to already being the most aged of the 2021 T20 World Cup’s s 16 participating teams, as well as arguably the most unfit, the West Indies could also well be the only squad containing an injury affected player even before the tournament’s commencement!
As a member of Cricket West Indies’ recently structured Committee to develop a new policy for the governance of the selection of West Indies teams, Wallace has also indicated that fitness was identified as the most basic fundamental requirement of its submitted recommendations. The Committee’s recommendations were subsequently wholly endorsed by Cricket West Indies’ Board of Directors. As such, in the light of the Word Cup selections decisions that have been made by Harper and company, Wallace has suggested that the Committee’s recommendations are now being ignored.
“When does this current Panel’s tenure end?”
That was the question posed by Philo Wallace as one of the panelists on the recent September 14, 2021 broadcast of highly popular Barbados based Mason & Guest Programme. Mason & Guests is hosted weekly by the noted West Indies cricket Radio Commentator, Andrew Mason.
If Wallace’s question is not now surely a sign of knives having actually been drawn and being made ready for piercing, then as the saying goes “the Pope isn’t Catholic!”