Russell’s last season with Ja Tallawahs
Caribbean Life, May 22-28, 2020 33
Harper hails Windies
white-ball unit’s batting By Nelson A. King
By Azad Ali
Chief West Indies Selector,
Roger Harper has hailed the
improved batting of the whiteball
unit (ODI and T20) as one
of the positives for West Indies
in recent months.
The former Guyana and
West Indies off-spinner said the
return of “older, wiser heads”
had also brought a new level
of effectiveness to the bowling
especially at the death stages.
“If you look for one thing
that has been relatively consistent
is the way the team has
batted,” he told a radio station
in Trinidad.
“I think we’ve have seem
some constituency in the
white-ball team both in the
50-over game and Twenty20
and that of course is a plus,”
the head selector said.
“Just as we saw some gains,
we have this break so again we
will have to regroup when this
(coronavirus pandemic) is over
and come again but I think
generally we have seen some
improvement and it’s just a
matter now of turning those
improvements now in terms
Roger Harper. Associated Press /
Matt Dunham, fi le
of performance into consistent
positive results,” he added.
West Indies flopped at last
year’s 50-overs World Cup in
England, when they won just
twice in nine outings to finish
ninth of 10 teams and record
their worst-ever performance
at the event.
The performance prompted
a shakeup in the whiteball
team, with Jason Holder
removed as captain of the One-
Day International and Carlos
Braithwaite ditched as Twenty20
captain. The previously
exiled Kieron Pollard returned
to take over as captain.
Days after Chris Gayle hit
out at former West Indies
teammate Ramnaresh Sarwan
for his alleged ouster
from Jamaica Tallawahs, West
Indies talisman allrounder,
Andre Russell says that the
Caribbean Premier League
(CPL) 2020 will be his last
with the Tallawahs, claiming
that franchise is the “weirdest”
he has ever played in,
according to reports.
India.com reported last
week that the big-hitting
Russell has raised questions
over the professionalism
and lack of communication
in the Tallawahs, despite
being appointed their captain
in 2018 following his return
from doping ban.
“I am a guy who plays to
win,” said Russell on Instagram.
“I’ve won 13 (T20)
championships. If I’m picking
a friend, I believe in that
friend. But the way the Tallawahs
went about things, I was
trying to reach them on the
day of the draft: no reply.”
Russell’s frustration stems
from the 2018 season during
which, he alleged, the franchise
ignored his recommendations
for the players draft,
according to India.com.
It said Russell had an off
CPL 2019 during which he
managed just 99 runs and six
wickets from five matches.
“I felt like a first-class player
that just made his debut
one game ago. ‘Your opinion
is not valuable’. That’s how
I was treated. Even when I
ask questions: ‘who you guys
planning on retaining? Who
are you guys planning on buying’?
I don’t get any answers.
So, I just leave it,” Russell
said.
“I have another year’s contract
with the Tallawahs. I’m
going to play and try to win
because that’s all I play for,”
he added. “But this will be my
last, because I’ve been getting
mixed up with all this s**t
that is happening, and I can’t
be playing cricket where I’m
not comfortable.”
Meanwhile, the Tallawahs
has dismissed Gayle’s claim of
being pushed aside by Sarwan
from the team.
“Mr. Gayle gave several reasons
for the decision that was
made not to retain him in
the Tallawahs. However, the
truth is that this decision
was made collectively by the
ownership and management
team, which did not include
Mr. Ramnaresh Sarwan, and
based purely on business and
cricketing reasoning,” said
the Tallawahs in a statement.
“The Tallawahs had a very
disappointing season in CPL
2019, where the team finished
last in the tournament,” it
added. “The ownership and
management team has exercised
its rights in the selection
of players for CPL 2020 for the
betterment of the team.”
West Indies Andre Russell.
Associated Press / Andres Leighton
/India.com
/India.com