Published:
Vinode Mamchan
“Lendl Simmons has a future in West Indies cricket!” These were the words of chairman of the West Indies selection panel Clyde Butts speaking yesterday at the Kensington Oval in Barbados. Commenting on the World Cup team that was announced with players like Simmons being ignored, Butts said: “As we move forward in West Indies cricket there is a place for Simmons and we are looking at him.”
Butts said Simmons had a bad series against Australia last year and this is what had him on the sidelines. “We all saw the series against Australia and we all knew what went on. Simmons struggled and it was recommended that Simmons needed help and we needed to speak to him. “I tried to speak to him and he refused, but since then I have spoken to him again and we will be meeting tomorrow (today) to discuss his future in West Indies cricket.” Simmons has been in good form in the current T20 series, winning two Star of the Match awards in T&T’s two wins thus far.
Looking at the other players available for selection, Butts said Jamaican Marlon Samuels was not selected because he is just coming back into cricket. “There is no need to rush Marlon Samuels back into international cricket at the moment. He has just come back and let us see how things progress with him.” Butts said the selection panel is convinced that Ramnaresh Sarwan is fit again and will not be prone to breakdowns as was the case before and as a consequence they have selected him for the World Cup.
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