IT?IS?NOT?the end of the world for Ashley Nurse but his axing from the West Indies T20 team because he was deemed unfit should provide a lesson for him and others.
Rumours about his pending withdrawal were rife for a few days but were confirmed on Sunday in a release from the West Indies Cricket Board(WICB).
It was shocking.
Shocking because when chairman of selectors Clyde Butts announced the team he indicated that Nurse had improved his fitness and that statement inferred that there must have been previous concerns on the matter.
I believe they would have shared these concerns with him which means the player would have been given time to get in shape.
This is not to suggest that Nurse made no effort to reach the required level of fitness but once he participated in the special camp for the players it appeared as though his best effort was not good enough.
He would have failed what is known as the BEEP test which comprises a number of drills that bring one’s fitness under scrutiny.
Generally, I don’t think professional players should be going to camp to get fit but merely looking to enhance the shape they are in once the fitness and condition trainers put them through their paces.
I would grant a player some respite only on the grounds that he was injured and wasn’t able to keep in shape because of it.
I make this point for it is an open secret that some coaches often complain that some players fail to follow the training programmes they have been given and their shortcomings are exposed when preparation for tours are intensified.
If this is true, then players who fall short and are penalized only have themselves to blame.
I was also thinking whether players who are under contract stand to lose benefits or have their contract terminated, if due to delinquency on their part, they were unable to fulfil the terms of their employment.
In other words, if a player chooses cricket as his/her profession he should do what it takes to protect his livelihood.
It is another open secret that cricketers are well compensated so it is foolhardy to jeopardise their earning power by not doing things that are par for the course.
It must be a dream to be paid for what essentially is like your hobby. It becomes a conventional job when you conspire to make life hard for yourself.
Therefore, staying ahead of the eight-ball should be the preferred option.
Not only that, the current dispensation has made it clear that fitness and discipline will be prerequisites for wearing West Indies colours.
We would have to say that Nurse’s axing is not unique or that he has been singled out because the much more accomplished Ramnaresh Sarwan was left out of the team that toured Sri Lanka because the selectors believed he wasn’t paying enough attention to his fitness.
On the question of discipline, former captain Chris Gayle is apparently still out in the cold on this count.
The powers that be are showing consistency in these matters and are proving that nobody is above the law. It strengthens their credibility.
This mantra, though, about shaping up or shipping out should not be for players only. Administrators in West Indies cricket should also be held to the highest standards. It’s one of the ways to keep our overall game in shape.
Andi Thornhill is sports editor at the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation.
