CWI must not get rid of independent selectors – Perreira
Published:Sunday | July 7, 2024 | 12:13 AMOrane Buchanan - Staff Reporter
CRICKET WEST Indies (CWI) announcement that it will be employing new selection processes in tandem with the non-renewal of contracts for chief selelctors, Desmond Haynes and Ann Browne-John, has led to speculation that the organisation will be doing away with selection panels.
Sources close to the situation have fuelled the speculation and veteran regional cricket analyst, Joseph ‘Reds’ Perreira, believes, if true, CWI would be making a mistake.
Perreira also believes, based on the trend he has seen, that the speculations may have some truth to it.
“The bottom line is that the board has opted to get rid of selectors and that was on its way for a very long time. England tried this with Chris Silverwood and Joe Root. It didn’t work, and there’s a reason why it didn’t work. You need selectors independently to watch the cricket and I think this is, maybe, the board wanting to have a little more control,” said Perreira.
Miles Bascombe, director of cricket, said CWI would be embarking on a “new and improved process”.
“We are committed to a selection system that reflects the current needs of our cricketing landscape, which will give us the best chance to identify and develop talent across all levels. The new system will have an increased focus on scouting, depth charting, alignment with cricket strategy and human resource management,” Bascombe had said.
The speculation is that come next month when the CWI meets to ratify the changes in process, that scouts and data analysts will traverse the region and deliver information to the coach and the captain, who will then use that information to pick West Indies teams.
According to Perreira, such a structure would give too much power to the head coach and captain of the teams to make selection decisions, which will do more harm than good.
NEW CONCEPT WILL BACKFIRE
“This is going to backfire on Cricket West Indies because I don’t know how Miles Bascombe can come up with this new concept,” said Perreira.
Still, Perreira believes that Browne-John’s tenure had a major demerit.
“For, Browne-John, she had the chance to improve the level of our women’s game and that didn’t happen. She never explained to the Caribbean what happened with Deandra Dottin and why she left the team. That was a question that she never answered and we’ve suffered because of that,” said Perreira.
Former CWI President Whycliffe ‘Dave’ Cameron explained that a board of selectors provided an important buffer from the perception of nepotism during his tenure.
“Depending on which country they’re from, who they’re friendly with, we found that they would have their picks,” said Cameron of instances when captains and coaches had a hand in picking the team.
“During our time, we changed that selection system to where the coach and captain had a say, but the selectors were independent. Therefore, they were accountable to the organisation and not to the players and that way we were able to pick more balanced teams,” said Cameron.