WICB CEO: Door not closed on Ramdin

WICB CEO: Door not closed on Ramdin
By JONATHAN RAMNANANSINGH Saturday, July 9 2016



CHIEF EXECUTIVE Officer (CEO) of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), Michael Muirhead, has said that Denesh Ramdin’s exclusion from the regional team for the forthcoming India Test Series is not the end of the road for the Trinidad and Tobago wicketkeeper/batsman.

On Tuesday, the seasoned custodian behind the stumps, was virtually run out by former WI wicketkeeper and new chairman of selectors Courtney Browne, having received a call from the administrator informing him that he was dropped for the July 21-August 22 Test series against India in the Caribbean. Ramdin then took to Twitter to vent his frustration on the decision and ruffle a few feathers following Browne’s conversation with him. However, Muirhead remains optimistic that if Ramdin’s technical ability behind the stumps is in fact needed throughout the tournament, he would still be able to receive a regional call-up, and this decision by Browne does not at all rule him out of other dawning Test Series.

“The final decision is what we stay away from and leave up to the selectors,” he said yesterday.

“Most of us know how far our decision- making goes and well if we don’t like the selectors, we change the selectors. I am sure he will be called upon for the CPL so I’m sure he might be playing there. This does not exclude from being selected for other Test matches or him being totally ruled out of the entire Indian tour. The selectors are free to bring him back later on down the road.” In February, Ramdin was among a number of West Indies cricketers, including captain Jason Holder, fast bowler Shannon Gabriel, veteran batsman Marlon Samuels and all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite, who could not have been chosen by a franchise team for the current CPL (Caribbean Premier League) since they were centrally retained by the WICB and were in line for selection for the India series — which will run concurrent to the CPL.

Now, with Ramdin virtually axed from the WI Test team due to his inconsistent returns with the bat, the former Guyana Amazon Warriors captain stand to lose out on huge earnings from the CPL’s 2016 edition. Muirhead made it clear that whatever decision is made by the WI selectors (Browne, Courtney Walsh and Eldine Baptiste) must be adhered to and treated with fullest respect. He however, was not in full agreement with the avenue Ramdin took to vent his feelings.

“Well my thoughts are that it was the selectors who determine the team,” he added.

“I didn’t even see the tweet and didn’t know Ramdin had announced it and was not in the team.

It was a premature thing for him to do but notwithstanding I have nothing to do with the selections.”

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