Caribbean News, Cricket

Ramdin, Sarwan and Taylor Left Out

Trinidad and Tobago wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin and Guyanese middle order batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan have both missed out on West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) central retainer contracts for next season.

The WICB, in a media release yesterday, said they offered 15 players central contracts for the period October 1, 2010 to September 30, 2011 including five T&T players.

Dwayne Bravo’s retainer contract remained intact, while big hitting allrounder Kieron Pollard, who has performed well in the shortest form of the game, has been offered a retainer contract for the first time.

He joins pacer Ravi Rampaul and batsmen Adrian Barath and Darren Bravo, who both moved up from having developmental contracts last year. West Indies skipper Chris Gayle and key batsmen Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Brendan Nash have also been offered retainer contracts for the coming season.

Nikita Miller, Devon Smith and Nelon Pascal who previously held developmental contracts over the last year have now moved up to retainer contracts, while Jerome Taylor, Narsingh Deonarine, Dave Bernard and Travis Dowlin, along with Ramdin and Sarwan, have slipped off the list of centrally contracted players.

In their release yesterday, the WICB said: “Sarwan and Taylor’s limited availability for the West Indies over the past year due to injuries weighed heavily against them.”

The release went on to say that Sarwan and Deonarine’s general levels of fitness were also deemed unsatisfactory.

The 30-year-old Sarwan, who is a veteran of 83 Tests and 156 ODIs, has been struggling to get back to full fitness and is currently captaining Guyana for their Airtel Champions League outing in South Africa next week.

Ramdin, who played 42 Tests and 81 ODIs, has been in and out of the squad over the last year and has been not been in top form recently.

The release added: “Ramdin and Dowlin’s performances over the past year have been less than favourable in the view of the selection committee and they were not recommended for central retainer or developmental contracts.”

No wicketkeeper was offered a central retainer contract by the WICB, who insisted that contracts were not a prerequisite for being selected to represent the West Indies, meaning Ramdin and Sarwan could still find a place in the squad.

Chadwick Walton is the only specialist wicketkeeper to be given a developmental contract. Andre Fletcher, who is an occasional wicketkeeper for the regional limited overs team, was also given a development contract along with T&T all-rounder Imran Khan who was rewarded for his consistency in the regional four-day tournament.

The players have been given until September 10 to peruse the offers and indicate to the WICB whether they will accept.

The WICB have also indicated that should, by that date, any player not convey a decision to the WICB or indicate that they would prefer not to take up the offer, the WICB will make “alternative offers.”

WICB Central Retainer Contracts:

Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Sulieman Benn, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Sammy, Kemar Roach, Brendan Nash, Adrian Barath, Darren Bravo, Shane Shillingford, Kieron Pollard, Nikita Miller, Devon Smith, Ravi Rampaul, Nelon Pascal.

WICB Developmental Contracts:

Kirk Edwards, Andre Russell, David Bernard Jr, Garvin Tonge, Andre Fletcher, Chadwick Walton, Devendra Bishoo, Assad Fudadin, Imran Khan, Kevin Stoute.

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