PORT OF SPAIN – Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board president Azim Bassarath has promised to probe the communication breakdown that led to Darren Bravo’s exclusion from the four-day and Super50 setup.
It emerged this week that Bravo, the country’s premier batsman, had been excluded from both Red Force squads, despite indicating his availability to head coach Kelvin Williams.
“That is a matter for the selectors [but] we don’t like what is being portrayed in the public domain,” Bassarath told the NewsDay.
“As a responsible organisation, we will have to do our investigation about what transpired. It’s very unfortunate but unless we don’t find out from the people involved, I cannot say anything.”
Following media reports he had been excluded from both squads, Bravo clarified via social media that he had informed Williams of his availability for the final match of the ongoing Regional Four-Day Championship against Guyana Jaguars and the first eight fixtures of the Regional Super50 scheduled to bowl off January 30.
However, convenor of selectors Raphick Jumadeen said he was unaware of this development, also indicating that both squads had already been finalised and would not be altered to accommodate Bravo.
Bassarath described the scenario as “unfortunate” and also made it clear the problem was not the fact Bravo had spoken to Williams instead of Jumadeen.
“He could have spoken both to the chairman of selectors and the coach. The coach has a good relationship with the senior players and they love Kelvin … I don’t think it’s a problem about who he spoke to,” Bassarath stressed.
He added: “It is very unfortunate that something like this could have happened. We thought we would have had our best players playing in this (Super50) tournament.”
The development is the latest twist in the saga surrounding Bravo’s career, which has been in turmoil ever since he was sent home in November, 2016 ahead of the Tri-Nations Series in Zimbabwe for his controversial Twitter rant aimed at Cricket West Indies president Dave Cameron.
Bravo has not played for Red Force or West Indies since, even though CWI announced last July that his standoff with the board had ended, and he was now eligible for selection.
The left-hander declined to be considered for selection for the one-day tour of England last September, and has since plied his trade in the Bangladesh Premier League.
Only recently, the 28-year-old said he was still committed to representing West Indies in the future. (CMC)
