Sarwan grateful for opportunity to aid in Windies selection systems

– Is this an opening for Guyanese players?

West Indian and Guyanese legend Ramnaresh Sarwan has been named among the six-member Task Force that would look into the selection systems for Cricket West Indies (CWI).

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Cricket West Indies, Johnny Grave, recently disclosed that the Task Force has been put in place to deal with the system of selecting players.
Grateful to once again serve West Indies Cricket, Sarwan will join CWI Vice-President Dr Kishore Shallow, Director of Cricket Jimmy Adams, CWI Director Enoch Lewis, current cricketer Miles Bascombe and former cricketer Philo Wallace on the committee.
In comments made to CWI, the 38-year-old Sarwan said he is grateful for the opportunity to again serve West Indies Cricket.
“This Task Force will help to restructure the West Indies selection policy that has been under a lot of scrutiny over the past couple of years. So now that we have the ability to review everything, I’m looking forward to aiding in finding a ‘common-ground’ solution in the best interest of West Indies Cricket between players and administrators,” Sarwan is quoted as saying.
Sarwan, who has played 87 Test matches and 181 ODIs for the West Indies, retired with 11,944 runs across all formats. He recently worked with the Windies batsmen during the preparation phase of the World Cup, acting as a mentor, and is seen as a vital part of the Windies management.
The last West Indies Selection Panel, headed by Courtney Browne and comprising of Travis Dowli, Lockhart Sebastian and Eldine Baptiste, was fired; but its members were informed that they could re-apply for their positions after the Task Force had made recommendations to the WICB.
Since that axing, Browne and Baptise have been contending that they were illegally removed, and are planning legal action.
The CWI CEO, Grave, has said that the Task Force was not placed to get rid of anybody, but was put together to bring CWI structure in line with international standards.
Currently, there is a lone Guyanese, Shimron Hetmyer, in the West Indies team. With a Guyanese on board the selection process, more Guyanese may earn selection to the Regional team.
Will Sarwan’s selection to this panel translate into an opening for Guyanese cricketers to feature in West Indies’ teams?
With Guyana seen as the dominant team in recent Regional tournaments, winning five consecutive Regional 4-Day tournaments, outstanding players Anthony Bramble, Clinton Pestano, and even Romario Shepherd may each have an opportunity to be called up for West Indies ‘A’ and senior duties. (Brandon Corlette)