Batsman Nkrumah Bonner has been given the assurance he has not been discarded despite being dropped for the Test tour of South Africa, while veteran left-hander Darren Bravo has been told he is still in contention even though he too has been ignored.
The 34-year-old Bonner has struggled for form in recent months, averaging ten from his last five Tests while Bravo, also 34 – who has not featured in the longest format in just over two years – scored a hundred in each innings of the last round of matches in the Regional First Class Championship.
Speaking to media on Thursday, chief selector Desmond Haynes said both players remained on the selection radar. “Obviously Bonner struggled a little bit in the last couple of Test matches that he has played, and we believe we would like to see Bonner come back and play some more first class games here in the Caribbean and then get ready for India who are coming in June,” Haynes said. “When someone is left out of the side the first impression that comes to one’s mind is that you’re done with somebody.
“But I had a conversation – not only myself but [fellow selector] Roland (Butcher) – we had a conversation with Bonner, and we explained to him the reason why he’s not been selected to go to South Africa.”
Bonner was one of the Caribbean side’s leading batsmen in 2021, hitting his maiden Test hundred along with three fifties but tailed off last year despite a hundred against England.
Bravo, meanwhile, has also failed to recapture his best form ever since returning to international cricket following a controversial 2½ year break, and was dropped in 2020 after averaging 13 from seven Tests.
However, he struck hundreds against Leeward Islands Hurricanes last week at the Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium, and currently averages 87 for Trinidad and Tobago Red Force following the first two rounds of the first class championship.
“I called Bravo to congratulate him on the two hundreds that he scored,” Haynes said.
“We in the Caribbean, we don’t have the luxury of talking about age not being on someone’s side. If someone is doing very well in our competitions, I think his name must come up for selection.
“I think that Bravo has proven that he can play cricket at the highest level and it’s just a matter of if we can get the guys if they’re committed and they really want to play, but Bravo is a class act.
“He has done well at Test level. He had a period where he just lost his form and so forth, but we know that Bravo is good enough to make runs at this level, and we will continue to monitor Bravo’s progress as we go along in this four-day competition.”
Instead of Bravo or Bonner, selectors opted for the uncapped 24-year-old Dominican Alick Athanaze, one of the leading batsmen in the opening two rounds of the regional championship.
And Haynes said selectors had been tracking the progress of the left-hander for some time and were pleased with his progress.
“This young man was on our radar for quite some time … and we really like the way this young man has adapted himself to the longer version of the game,” said the legendary former West Indies opener. “We think he has a lot of ability … he’s a guy who is in form at the moment. He just got a hundred and we believe this is the right time to give him an opportunity to see what he can do at the highest level.
“We personally think he has a lot of talent and can go a long way. We had to take those chances as well with Tage Chanderpaul when we first saw him.
“We as selectors don’t always get it right but we tend to trust our cricket judgement and whatever we do, we always do it in the best interest of West Indies cricket.”
West Indies are scheduled to arrive in South Africa on Friday for the two-Test tour beginning February 28.
-CMC
