Red Force head coach David Furlong said the line of communication between Cricket West Indies (CWI) and the territorial boards was poor and players were often left in the dark as to why they were not considered for the West Indies squad.
Speaking about Darren Bravo’s non-selection, Furlonge said,
“I was disappointed, but I was not very surprised, knowing the trend of the selectors…I was hoping there would have been a change in the thinking. If you not going with Bravo again, come out and have a conversation with Bravo.”
The Red Force coach said there was no communication before the Super50 tournament between the TTCB and the CWI discussing that there should be a focus on younger players.
“They have never communicated with us…that Darren Bravo cannot play for West Indies again. I don’t think he (Haynes) has even told Darren that. I think he is just looking for excuses for the non-selection of Bravo.”
He added, “I am all for young players, but you can’t include a player because of age. We can’t say let’s pick him because he is 20 – what about his performance? They have to perform.”
Furlonge disagrees with the need to play young players now with the 2027 World Cup in mind. He said the best players should be chosen, despite age, so West Indies will win more series to earn points and improve their world rankings to qualify directly for the 2027 World Cup.
Furlonge said CWI selectors need to have open communication with players.
“Plenty lack of communication, players come to you all the time and say, ‘I don’t know why I have been dropped from West Indies. What did I do wrong?'”
Furlonge said selectors at territorial boards would naturally focus on winning a tournament.
“It is a regional tournament for regional supremacy. I think any selector put forward by a (territorial) board to select teams will pick the best available team to win the competition.”
Furlonge added, “(If) Haynes wants development, why not have a development tournament, an Under-23 tournament or Under-25 tournament. Why not have something like that?”
David Furlonge is throwing mud. And no one should be beguiled. Dr. Haynes have given the reasons behind Darren Bravo non-selection. He is a bigger man than I would be. There’s no precedence for informing a player about his non-selection. The player in question has a checkered career. So, I guess the only thing driving the smoke screen is because he’s Dwayne Bravo’s brother. That does not open a selection. Throwing mud is disingenuous because I know Dr. Haynes. Darren Bravo is no Dr.Haynes.
It is very sad that West Indies not picking Bravo because of his age well kholi,Rohit and Warner, Shami and Ashwin are all closer to 35 years and even older and performing very good in the worldcup and in many tornnaments are wining games. The atitudes of these selectors are ridiculous. Really sad these old star players are degrading the players by selecting favourites not by performance
Haynes does not appear to have the development of cricket at heart in the Caribbean.
Since his taking over of in charge he has done nothing for WI cricket
It is signalled that he has his own agenda which is not in the interest of the development of cricket in the region.
Darren has achieved every requirement that is asked of a player for fair selection.
Haynes was last seen sleeping on himself watching a Bajan cricket match in the recent domestic tournament.
Wake up and smell the coffee.
Disingenuous Mr. Hutchinson? Throwing mud? No precedence set? It is wrong to not properly communicate with players concerning their status then and it is wrong now! The point of Mr. Furlonge comment is lack of communication between CWI, the territorial boards and the players. Time to get it right!! I’m sure when Mr. Haynes was dropped from the team so many years ago, he could claim that he wasn’t properly communicated with regards to his status then! So this is not a problem of recent history!!
What are the guidelines for selection on a team? These must be clearly defined so that there will be no misinterpretation. Dr. Haynes had his experiences with the WICB. This should not be a one man show. The region wants the revival of West Indian cricket but things have not changed. The first criteria for selection on any sports team is form, then you adapt as you go along. Let us get rid of the negatives and show the young ones you can contribute to the growth and development of WI cricket.