We should not end the careers of our veterans prematurely

Dear Editor,

As one who is an eternal optimist I somehow got to Antigua to see the two games against India. Naturally I was disappointed with the first game, especially with the exclusion of the young Antiguan Joseph; terribly worried after our low score in the second game, but enthralled by the marvellous bowling performance that led us to victory, defending 180 odd runs. The bowling generally, and in particular the death bowling of Williams, in only his second ODI, and especially that of Captain Holder, was of the highest quality. I offer on behalf of myself and the few remaining fans of West Indies cricket hearty congratulations to the players while retaining my disdain for the administrators.

It cannot be in the best interests of West Indies cricket to have perhaps less than 1000 people in total in attendance at two games involving our beloved team and the cricket juggernaut that is India. The main reason for the unbelievably low attendance is well known. It is simply that, apart from the few who still pay very close attention to West Indies cricket, no one knew the names of most of our cricketers. With a handful of recognized names blending with the promising youth in the wonderful sunshine at this magnificent stadium, there would have been thousands attending, and of course the exclusion of Joseph in the first game from a public relations standpoint needs to be explained. As to the exclusion of all our veterans, only criminals or those with known criminal proclivities deserve to be prohibited from playing on the same team with youngsters. Let us not prematurely bring the careers of all our veterans to an end for no good reason.

Yours faithfully,

Romain Pitt