THE insularity in the regional selection policy continues to hurt several Caribbean cricketers. Our se¬lec¬tors must at¬tempt to stop de¬cid¬ing on the ca¬reer paths for our crick¬eters with¬out giv¬ing them a fair and hon¬est tri¬al.

Disrespect, discrimination and insularity have been meted out to so many players over the years and one such player is Guyanese left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul, who feels that he has never been given a fair chance in West Indies cricket.

The Berbician con¬tin¬ues to demon¬strate va¬ri¬ety and con¬fi¬dence in his bowl¬ing at the regional level over the years, which is a clear ev¬i¬dence that he is at the top of his game, yet is not given a fair deal by the regional selectors.

During an exclusive interview yesterday, 29-year-old, Permaul, who played six Tests and seven ODIs for West Indies, revealed that he is accustomed not to be in a West Indies setup, be it the senior or A-team.

“I am accustomed by now, not to be selected for West Indies, not even in the senior or A-team after doing so well over the years at the regional level. But having said that, it is way out of my control … all I do is just play cricket, do well, and hope someday I get picked.”

With 113 First-class matches to his credit, the former West Indies youth player added, “I (have) never been given a fair chance in West Indies cricket. I always get one game to prove myself while other players get a series to prove themselves and loads of opportunities.

“Every year I have been doing well, and still can’t make a senior West Indies or A-team, so sometimes I wonder how others make it when my performance is better than theirs. For the past years in regional cricket I (have) been up there with performance and continue to be neglected. I hope a day will come when God will make things turn around for me.”

Permaul questioned the criteria used in selecting a West Indies senior or A-team, since he is of the opinion that performance at the regional level should be the selectors’ benchmark.

“To be honest I am not a person that likes to ask any selector why I am not selected because I would think performance in regional cricket is the criterion in making a West Indies senior or A-team, and if that is not the criterion then what is it? I am leaving everything in the hands of God. I will continue to play my cricket, and hope for the best,” he concluded the interview.

Cricket West Indies (CWI) had recently selected three squads for the West Indies-A team series against the visiting India-A. Permaul is not in any of those squads, despite finishing among the top wicket-takers in the last five regional seasons, where he was a key player in Guyana’s fifth consecutive CWI Regional four-day titles. He has also been a crucial member of Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

Al¬though we would be in¬clined to crit¬i¬cise the se¬lec¬tion pol¬i¬cy and cer¬tain se¬lec¬tions in the past, these cur¬rent se¬lec¬tors have es¬sen-tial¬ly stuck with the same unit from be¬fore; no change, just ex¬change.

Some¬thing is definitely wrong with the selection policy. But the ques¬tion is: can we trust newly elected president Ricky Skerritt to find a so¬lu¬tion, or will he just turn a blind eye? Let us watch and ob¬serve Skerritt care¬ful¬ly, as I am not very con¬fi¬dent of the fu¬ture, the left-arm spinner lamented.