CRICKET West Indies (CWI) vice-president Dr Kishore Shallow has called on stakeholders to trust the selectors and allow them to do their jobs.

He made the comment on the Mason and Guest radio programme on Tuesday in Barbados as CWI responded to an avalanche of criticism following the naming of West Indies T20 World Cup squad.

The squad includes Chris Gayle and Ravi Rampaul whose selections have drawn criticism while Jason Holder and Darren Bravo’s status on the reserve team has been questioned for opposing reasons.

Dr Shallow said, “The selection panel has the advantage of an analyst crunching numbers and advising them. Also, they are the ones who know the composition that they’re looking for, the balance of the team; so you have to give them the benefit of the doubt that they are selecting the best team based on what they want.”

His statement came after a week of mounting criticism which hit home when T&T Cricket Board (TTCB) president Azim Bassarath publicly questioned the exclusion of Sherfane Rutherford and Romario Shepherd, labelling some players “lucky” to be on flight to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Former West Indies wicketkeeper Jeffrey Dujon also weighed in on the ongoing selection saga questioning Jason Holder’s reserve status. “The fact of the matter is that he is at the top of the all-rounder list plus the fact that he is young and experienced which is not something you can say for many of the guys in the squad. So we’re missing out tactically there where he is concerned,” the Jamaican told the programme.

Former T&TCB Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Suruj Ragoonath supported Dujon’s point stating that Holder should be in any West Indies team.

However, Ragoonath took issue with what he termed the double standards the selection panel used to pick some while disqualifying others on the basis of fitness. He pointed specifically to the medical exemptions granted to Gayle and Rampaul.

He said, “Anyone who would have a responsibility and would not have taken such a factor into consideration and allow players to get away with an excuse, to me, they aren’t worth their salt.

“They should have stood up and said: ‘This is the criterion we are using to select the team and if you don’t meet the criterion then you can’t get selected’. It can’t be one rule for some and another rule for others.”

The West Indies will bowl off their T20 World Cup campaign against England on October 23 before facing South Africa three days later. Australia are also in Group 1 with two more qualifying teams to be added.

The tournament will be hosted in the UAE between October 17 and November 14. The top two teams from each group will move on to the semi-finals. (Extracted from Trinidad Guardian)