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Bravo, Pollard stats justify omission from ODI team
Monday, January 5 2015
THE EDITOR: How quickly we forget. When Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard, among others, engineered the pull-out of the West Indies team from the tour of India, causing monumental embarrassment to West Indians all over the world, their condemnation was almost universal.
I wrote then that the players involved should never again play cricket for the West Indies, that the “crime” called for the harshest penalties and it would be a pity if the punishment was construed as victimisation. I still hold that view, even though I will miss seeing them play for, once in a while (like one in ten matches), they do provide some memorable moments.
However, in recent days, we have heard some loud voices claiming that Bravo and Pollard were “victimised” by being dropped from the West Indies ODI team. They are talking as if Bravo and Pollard have consistently played important roles in ODI matches, as if they have been making regular, sterling contributions to the team effort. Their record does not support this.
In the aborted series against India, Bravo had scores of 17, 10 and 0. He bowled a total of 20 overs and took four wickets for 130 runs. Hardly awe-inspiring. Go back, if you will, to the previous series against bottom-of-the-table Bangladesh. He had scores of 5, 6 and 3 not out. He bowled 12 overs and took 5 for 64, just about average. His batting average for his last six innings was 8.2. One has to go as far back as February 2014 to find a good score, 87 not out in the first match against England. This was followed by scores of 20 and 27. Overall, one good score in nine innings.
Now, forget the fact that he belongs to your cricket club. Do you really consider such a performance worthy of your ODI captain? If a player is dropped for such poor performance, why would anyone claim that he is being victimised? Any other player so dropped would hardly raise an eyebrow. Why the furore over Bravo?
Now let’s look at Pollard. In the tri-nation series involving India and Sri Lanka in June-July 2013, he played four matches with scores of 0, 4, 0 and 0.
Despite this abysmal performance, he was picked for the Pakistan series which followed soon after. After scores of 3, 30 and 0, the selectors finally found the courage to say that enough was enough and dropped him for the remaining two ODIs. His average in seven matches before being dropped was 5.3, hardly the stuff on which a claim of victimisation can be made.
Fast forward to August 2014, the next time Pollard was picked for the Windies, against Bangladesh.
He started off well enough with 89 in the first match. But then he faltered to 26 and 10 in the next two. As if to confirm my one-in-ten claim above, he had one good score in ten consecutive innings.
And then came India in October 2014. He played three matches with scores of 2, 40 and 6. (He also bowled three overs, taking 0 for 22 but that’s immaterial except to indicate that even his captain, Bravo, does not consider him an all- rounder. Bravo did not give him a single over in the Bangladesh series.) So, in his last 13 innings for the West Indies, Pollard’s batting average was 16.2.
I submit that, based on their recent performances, the WI selectors’ decision to drop Bravo and Pollard from the ODI team should not be construed as an act of victimisation. I dare any commentator or professed cricket analyst to justify the claim of victimisation based on the statistics presented.
NOEL KALICHARAN
Bravo stats tell a different story
Tuesday, January 6 2015
THE EDITOR: I believe it is necessary to respond to Noel Kalicharan’s letter of yesterday, titled “Bravo, Pollard stats justify omission from ODI team”.
If one wants to use pure statistical figures to select a West Indies team there may not be enough players to make up an 11. After all, the selectors have sent Devon Smith to South Africa with an average of not more than 25 after more than 12 years around the West Indies team. Here are some of Dwayne Bravo’s stats from 2014:
January: third ODI vs New Zealand in Queenstown, Bravo 56 not out; fourth ODI vs New Zealand in Nelson, Bravo 43 not out; fifth ODI vs New Zealand in Hamilton, Bravo 106. February: one-off ODI vs Ireland in Kingston, Bravo 35; first ODI vs England at North Sound, Bravo 87 not out; second ODI vs England at North Sound, Bravo 20; third ODI vs England at North Sound, Bravo 27.
These stats tell a story of a player that has been selected to the ICC ODI team for 2014. Perhaps Kalicharan needs to tell us what stats were used by the ICC to come up with this selection.
Statistics have rarely if ever been used to pick a West Indies team. Not long ago we had a captain in all formats, Darren Sammy, whose statistics told us that he may be a pick for a few games but is not a sure pick on any team. Jason Holder is thrust into the ODI captaincy role, but is he a sure pick or standout player or even average on an ODI team?
Do not be fooled, this omission is a response for the ill-advised pull-out from India in October, nothing else. After all, why allow Sammy and not Bravo or Kieron Pollard? Do your stats support that choice, Kalicharan?
MARLON BERNARD
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