CLIVE LLOYD would have sifted through the records and capabilities of a mass of names in his search for a replacement for the accredited and proven No. 3, the unfortunate Darren Bravo, whose career has suddenly been blown off course by his own personal issues and now, in the game’s premier tournament, by a torn hamstring.
That Johnson Charles, 26, was chosen, having played the last of his 30 ODIs in New Zealand just over a year ago, attests to the paucity of younger reserves yet ready for introductions at a World Cup. It’s what the Americans call “bench strength”.
There was very little to properly inform the chief selector’s deliberations.
The regional Nagico Super 50 tournament in January, that might have advanced a name or two, was a farce. There were too few matches for too many teams in too short a time; sub-standard, bowler-friendly pitches and the intervention of weather rendered the exercise all but pointless.
Please read the full story in today’s Midweek Nation, or in the eNATION edition.
