“I don’t think there will be much going on in terms of Darren playing cricket”
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West Indies chairman of selectors Courtney Browne has confirmed that batsman Darren Bravo will continue to be overlooked until his ongoing dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is resolved.
Bravo was made to return home from Harare on the eve of the ODI tri-series in November that involved the West Indies, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka after he criticised WICB president Dave Cameron.
With the WICB having cancelled his match contract and Bravo refusing to sign a new central contract, he was also left out of Trinidad & Tobago’s squad for the Regional Super50 domestic tournament.
Bravo recently had a Skype conversation with WICB officials, but details of the meeting have not been released.
Browne admitted that Bravo should be selected, especially as he is “one of our better players”, but added that it would not be possible to include him in the national team given the current circumstances.
“At this stage all I know is there is supposed to have been some discussion between Darren’s team and WICB,” Browne told the Line and Length Network. “Until that is settled, I don’t think there will be much going on in terms of Darren playing cricket. He is a talented young man, one of our better players. Obviously it was sad to lose him but at times these things happen, you just need to deal with it and see how you can get him back on the field playing cricket.”
Meanwhile, Browne confirmed that he will be closely monitoring the Regional Super50 competition in order to find any talented players that could be beneficial to the West Indies in the lead-up to the 2019 World Cup.
“This [Regional Super50] is going to be very important for us,” Browne said. “Coming after the Zimbabwe tri-series, we saw some good signs there. Obviously we have a young team. Our captain Jason Holder has played around 50 ODIs, while the others have played 20-22, quite a few are below 10 ODIs.
“It’s a young ODI team for us. So we are looking forward to the Super50 to see the incumbents continue to do the good work, and then those other players who are challenging for a place. We have a lot of ODI cricket coming up this year. We’re building up towards the World Cup. So all the players coming in to get runs, wickets can show us they have the attitude not just to be part of the team, but the kind of attitude that makes West Indies people proud.”
Browne also made it clear that age will not be a barrier in regards to team selection going forward as he is more concerned about consistency.
“Age is just a number as the old saying goes,” Browne said. “People need to perform and perform consistently. We are trying to look at players over three seasons. What we are trying to do is not pick players after just one season. At times that will happen. But if we can get a guy performing consistently for two or three years, then you know he is deserving of an opportunity at the senior level or at least be considered.”