Guyana selectors act tough

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC):

Batsman Travis Dowlin, who up until six months ago served as captain of the West Indies A team, has been dropped from Guyana's squad for the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) one-day championship in Jamaica starting next week.

The 33-year-old right-hander was one of three surprise omissions, with Sewnarine Chatter-goon and wicketkeeper Derwin Christian also left out of the 14-man squad.

As expected, Guyana will be led by Ramnaresh Sarwan and includes new players Anthony Bramble, Jonathan Foo, Keon Joseph and Richard Ramdeen.

Dowlin has been a fixture in the Guyana team of recent and was a member of the failed Champions League Twenty20 campaign in South Africa last month, where he managed just 26 runs from four innings at the top of the order.

His dropping completes his plummet from grace after he was axed from the West Indies Test side against South Africa in June and then subsequently overlooked by the WICB for a central retainer and developmental contract.

ODI series

Only last November he scored two half-centuries in Tests against Australia Down Under in gathering 143 runs at an average of 35. However, he scored a wretched 11 runs from five innings in the subsequent one-day international series against the Aussies earlier this year.

The 29-year-old Chattergoon has also been ignored, after getting just 26 runs from three innings in the CLT20, while the 27-year-old Christian joins him in the sidelines after managing just 14 runs from three innings in the tournament.

Among the new faces is 18-year-old fast bowler Joseph, who played a single first-class match for Guyana in the regional championship earlier this year and one game for the West Under-19s in the one-day tournament here last October.

Foo, 20, was one of the stars of the Caribbean T20 in July while Bramble is a former Under-19 wicketkeeper.

The 22-year-old Ramdeen is a former West Under-19 batsman but has played just one match for Guyana - scoring 35 against South Australia in the CLT20.

In the October 14-24 regional tournament, Guyana will play in Group B alongside Barbados, Leeward Islands and the High Performance Centre XI.

Squad: Ramnaresh Sarwan, Chris Barnwell, Devendra Bishoo, Anthony Bramble, Shiv Chander-paul, Esuan Crandon, Royston Crandon, Narsingh Deonarine, Jonathan Foo, Assad Fudadin, Steven Jacobs, Leon Johnson, Keon Joseph, Richard Ramdeen.