(Trinidad Express) Unconfirmed reports yesterday stated that the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) were about to fire their three captains – Test captain Denesh Ramdin, One Day International captain Dwayne Bravo and T20 captain Darren Sammy, as directors are set to attend an important board meeting by conference call today.
Despite reports earlier this week of a reconciliation, mediated by St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, among the WICB and players, it is claimed the trio will be officially dismissed later this week and will be replaced by Kraigg Brathwaite (Tests) and Jason Holder (ODIs and T20Is), according to a cricket blog written by fellow co-host of the Mason & Guests show in Barbados, David Oram.
But those reports, first revealed on the Mason & Guests show Tuesday night by commentator Andrew Mason, are in conflict with ODI Bravo’s statements about issues being “all sorted out” and Chris Gayle’s statements about looking forward to the South Africa tour.
And a report in the Telegraph in the UK, quoting a source close to the team, suggested that the WICB leaked the story “to see how it played with the Caribbean public ahead of today’s meeting, when it could still be enacted.”
“Yet, if it was a test of public opinion, it backfired, with the region appearing to have little or no appetite for a cull of captains,” the Telegraph said.
But Bravo told the Jamaican Observer: “It’s all sorted out and the West Indies are going to be back playing again, as far as
I know the best West Indies team will tour South Africa.”
Gayle said Tuesday, “Hopefully, the dispute can be resolved and we will play against South Africa. “
All this comes on the heels of WI Test captain Denesh Ramdin’s stance that he was fired as Trinidad and Tobago’s captain following a meeting with the TTCB executive Monday, a position officially disputed by the TTCB president Azim Bassarath who told Cricinfo that there was a recommendation for Rayad Emrit to become T&T captain, and that the TTCB will only take that decision Saturday.
This despite a TTCB media release yesterday that stated, “the unavailability of Denesh Ramdin for selection for nearly all of the 2014-2015 regional cricket season was the deciding factor in the decision to appoint a new national team captain.”
