[www.inewsguyana.com] – Dwayne Bravo has insisted that he will lead a full-strength West Indies team on their tour of South Africa next month despite suggestions emanating from the Caribbean that he would be one of the victims of a purge of the players involved in the decision to abandon the recent tour of India.
Bravo was named on Wednesday in the official one-day team of the year selected by an International Cricket Council judging panel and had told the media in Durban, where he is to play for the Dolphins in the new Ram Slam Twenty20 competition, that the dispute between the players and the West Indies Cricket Board is “all sorted out”.
But there has been no direct response yet to subsequent claims that a Barbados radio station has reported that Bravo, the one-day captain, would be sacked as well as his counterparts in Test and T20 cricket, Denesh Ramdin and Darren Sammy respectively.
Ramdin, the 29-year-old wicketkeeper who has been a West Indies regular for almost a decade, has confirmed that he has been sacked as the captain of Trinidad and Tobago, claiming that he was being “victimised” for his involvement in the abrupt departure from India.
“I think it is more victimisation because they were asking me questions about India and my lawyer said not to talk about it so I think they were trying to get more information on that aspect,” he told ESPN Cricinfo.
“I think they are trying to victimise me and some of the other players, but I am not going to let it disrupt me mentally. I am just trying to get back into the right frame of mind to play and I know we [T&T] have a couple of games before going to South Africa so I will just try to get myself mentally prepared. We have a game against Barbados at The Oval so that is my main focus right now, to get out there and be playing cricket again.”
Bravo gave no hint of that in Durban, saying: “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. Everyone is available as far as I know and we look forward to trying to give the South African boys a good run. It’s always going to be tough, but it’s good that all the matters are resolved now.”
There is no hint of conciliation from the Board of Control for Cricket in India, whose secretary Sanjay Patel insisted again on Wednesday that they are demanding substantial financial compensation, believed to be well over £20m, which the impoverished West Indies clearly cannot afford.
“We have sent a demand letter to the WICB claiming damages to the tune of 258 crore,” he told the Press Association. “We are in the process of ascertaining other damages incurred by our hosting centres, after which we will present a final claim amount.
“It is a matter of consideration for the WICB to decide as to how they will cover our damages … they are solely responsible for this entire episode. There has been a direct and disastrous impact [to India]. Other than the financial losses, the collateral damage that has been caused to the BCCI and its stakeholders is irreparable.”
There are still hopes that the ICC may be able to broker a compromise at a board meeting in Dubai next week, with a widespread expectation that Dave Cameron, the chairman of the WICB who has been widely blamed for the current situation, will be forced to stand down.
