CricInfo Home
News Home

NEWS FOCUS
Rsa in Pak
NZ in India
Zim in Aus

Domestic
Other Series

The local cricket selectors have got it wrong again. They appear, again, to be out of tune with the politics of West Indies cricket.

Ryan Hinds should have been the straight forward choice to replace Sherwin Campbell as captain of the Barbados team for the upcoming Red Stripe Bowl. No disrespect to Courtney Browne who has ably led the team in the past but cricket reality should have seen the responsibility assigned to Hinds.

The first reason for this move is perhaps the most obvious one: He was the appointed vice captain for the Busta Cup season. In Campbell's enforced absence, Hinds should have been the first option for promotion.

Granted, this has not always been the case especially in the Test arena where people like the late Sir Conrad Hunte and Desmond Haynes were overlooked for others after holding the post of vice captain. Those who made those decisions thought they were justified and the local selectors might feel the same way now.

What, though, could be the main reason for giving Browne the nod over Hinds? Experience? Could be. But how do you acquire experience if you are not given the chance to function in a particular capacity?

Evenso, lest we forget, Hinds is a former captain of the West Indies youth team, leading them in the World Youth Cup in Sri Lanka a couple of years ago. This was now the perfect opportunity for him to widen his scope and enhance his credentials in the area of leadership.

But I believe we are still stuck in the mode and the mindset of winning and using this excuse which is merely retarding the growth of our cricket and reducing the opportunities of our younger players, in particular, to make inroads in the West Indies team.

We have to keep grooming personnel that are capable of contributing something tangible to West Indies cricket. Hinds is one such candidate and must be given every encouragement to advance. He is now in the mainstream of regional cricket and must be presented with the chance to compete ably with his contemporaries in key areas.

I won't be surprised, for instance, if Darren Ganga and Wavell Hinds aren't thrust into the forefront of leadership of Trinidad and Jamaica respectively based on an eye for the future. The hunt will soon be on for a successor to West Indies skipper Carl Hooper. Ganga is currently leading the West Indies 'A' on tours to England and Canada; Hinds was the original choice but his duties with the senior team prevented him from taking charge.

We should pay close attention to those developments so that when the time comes a Bajan will be among the options available to the West Indies Cricket Board. It's in this context that we should have seized the opportunity to put Ryan Hinds at the helm in the Red Stripe Bowl.

Conservatism, I suppose, will continue to be our undoing in the regional brew of cricketing politics.

© The Barbados Nation