Skerritt mitigates Bangladesh whitewash

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):

Cricket West Indies (CWI) President Ricky Skerritt has defended West Indies’ recent series whitewash in Bangladesh, pointing to the extenuating circumstances posed by the global COVID-19 pandemic which resulted in a weakened squad being sent to the south Asian country.

West Indies slumped to an emphatic 3-0 defeat in the One-Day International (ODI) series which ended Monday after producing a series of sub-par performances.

The Caribbean side, who also face the hosts in two Tests starting on Wednesday, were hard hit by the withdrawal of 10 first-choice players over what CWI said was due to “COVID-related concerns or personal fears” over the health situation in Bangladesh.

“How do we solve the COVID-19 problem where we can’t get all of our players playing at the same time and we have to field players, in some cases who have not played together before,” Skerritt said in an interview on Starcom Radio’s Mason and Guest here.

“COVID-19 is a reality that some of us don’t seem to understand. We have to face the reality that players are facing tremendous stressful decisions about their career and whether they’re participating in cricket under risky situations, even though Cricket West Indies and other boards are doing everything and more to minimise the risk.

“Tell me what would you do different to get the best players on the park when many of the players are reluctant to travel and choose not to play? Are you going to punish them? Are you going to say ‘if you don’t play, you’re not going to play again ever?’ Then you lose them forever?

“I’ve listened to some of the discussions about COVID and I wonder if we believe that COVID only affects us individually, and only us are fearful but players and others shouldn’t [be].”

HOLDER DECLINES SELECTION

Among the 10 players declining selection for the Bangladesh tour were Test captain Jason Holder and ODI skipper Kieron Pollard.

They were joined by high-profile players like Darren Bravo, Roston Chase, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran and Shai Hope, who formed the core of both the Test and one-day units.

Under its policy relating to touring amid the ongoing pandemic, CWI has allowed players the option of declining selection without any penalties attached.

Skerritt said while players had chosen not to tour for the two previous series in England and New Zealand, the Bangladesh tour had seen the highest number of players opting out.

“What has happened with this particular tour and the two tours before which were held during COVID in difficult, challenging health risk situations, is that you could not get all of your best players on tour at the same time, and this particular trip to Bangladesh was even worse,” he said.