A THORNY ISSUE: Stoute should have been chosen

CONTROVERSY and cricket may not be the most productive partnership, but somehow they always seem to make headlines in West Indies cricket.Beginning in Barbados, there has been much debate in the past few weeks about Barbados’ demise in the Caribbean Twenty20 final against Guyana who have qualified for the lucrative Airtel Champions League in South Africa next month.Naturally, most of the blame has been put on the selectors. They have been pummelled left, right and centre. If it was a boxing match, they would have been knocked out cold in the very first minute of the first round.Much of the talk has been centred on the exclusion of emerging all-rounder Kevin Stoute, who played only one match and was dropped after the game against the Combined Campuses and Colleges.I would have to join those who believe that Stoute was given a very raw deal by the selectors. In Bajan parlance, it seems as though he was unfaired.If he was ignored on the basis that his two overs cost 32 runs against CCC, this didn’t justify why he couldn’t play again.In other words, some get the feeling that Stoute was made a scapegoat and many questions have been asked.What did he do that was so bad that some of his colleagues didn’t do? Is there a personal vendetta against him? These are some of the questions I heard on call-in programmes.I prefer to believe that the selectors made grave errors in choosing the best 11 for the matches and Stoute became an unfortunate victim. But why him?After all, this is a youngster who had just returned from representing the West Indies ‘A’ team with honour in England. It should have been very fresh in the selectors mind that he had a magnificent haul of 8-52 against Lancashire and had a couple of half-centuries.My point is that we have been complaining vigorously that there seems to be a bias against Bajans who qualify to make West Indies team. Therefore, I thought it would have been appropriate for our selectors to keep in the spotlight any Bajan who had managed to put a foot through the door.This was truly the biggest error of all because the West Indies selectors may not feel obliged to pick him for a similar form of the game or any other version because he was overlooked by his own.It was also a cruel blow from the viewpoint that he could have been deprived of the chance to showcase his skills in front of a global audience which would include scouts looking for talent in the shortest form of cricket.Besides all of that, it has to be stated that Stoute should be an automatic starter in the Barbados team as all-rounder in any form of the game. He is outstanding in local cricket and when given the chance is consistent at the regional level. He deserves a run in the team.Oh, by the way, let’s not forget that he was withdrawn from the Barabdos squad competing in the Stanford 20/20 in 2008 on account of a mix-up over the interpretation of the eligibility rules. What I admired about him then is that he took it in stride and took the high ground.He told the NATION then: “With every disappointment, you can take some positives from it and something like this can only make you stronger. There are some Carib Beer games left, so right now I am focusing on them. If selected, I would be looking to give 100 per cent for Barabdos.”This is a young man of tremendous character. I have no doubt that sooner rather than later he will take his rightful place in the West Indies team.•Andi Thornhill is sports editor at the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation. He can be reached [email protected]