GEORGETOWN – Elite West Indies batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan has been snubbed for Guyana’s Caribbean Twenty20 campaign, as selectors remain concerned over his fitness.
The right-hander was not among the 14 players announced on Monday for the January 9 to 23 tournament, scheduled to be played in Antigua and Barbados.
Sarwan, 31, who averages over 40 in both Tests and One-Day Internationals, was the only player to score a half-century in Guyana’s failed 2010 Champions League Twenty20 campaign in South Africa.
He missed out on the West Indies tour to Bangladesh due to injury but has reportedly undergone rehabiliation and is currently in Canada. He is expected back home on December 12.
However, the Guyana Cricket Board said that with Sarwan unavailable for the recent domestic Twenty20 competition which was used to select the CT20 team, they remained “unsure about the injury issues” surrounding him.
“. . . The selectors are unsure about the injury issues affecting Mr Sarwan, especially since he was not able to play any cricket in the recent T20 Carib/Pepsi Tournament, which was used to select the T20 team to represent Guyana in the upcoming regional tournament in January 2012.
“They have also indicated that Mr Sarwan should make himself available to participate in the upcoming GCB national trial matches, training sessions and encampment for the selection of Guyana’s Four-day team to compete in the Regional 4-Day Tournament which starts on February 3 next year.”
Meanwhile, veteran left-hander Shiv Chanderpaul has been included in the squad but Jonathan Foo, who burst onto the Caribbean landscape last year, has been dropped.
The squad
Christopher Barnwell (Captain), Veerasammy Permaul, Trevon Griffith, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Leon Johnson, Royston Crandon, Steven Jacobs, Derwin Christian, Devendra Bishoo, Dillon Heyliger, Rajiv Ivan, Ronsford Beaton. (CMC)