Press Release from the Guyana Cricket Board
Following the non-selection of Guyanese Ashmini Munisar, Plaffiana Millington and Shabika Gajnabi, top performers in the recently concluded CWI Blaze T20 and Super50 Cup tournaments, the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) is questioning Cricket West Indies’ (CWI) criteria/measuring stick used for selection.
Munisar, Millington and Gajnabi were among the leading ladies in the recent CWI Women’s Super50 and T20 tournaments, either with bat, ball or both, but were somehow strangely overlooked ahead of the Pakistan tour.
CWI released their 15-member squad ahead of the upcoming eight-match series, which bowls off April 6 in Pakistan, with Guyana skipper Shemaine Campbelle being named vice-captain and all-rounder Cherry-Ann Fraser, the only other Guyanese in the Windies team.
The non-inclusion of Munisar, Millington and Gajnabi comes as a shock, as the trio played outstanding cricket throughout. In the batting department, Guyana had three players in the top five for the Blaze T20, with Gajnabi, Campbell and Mandy Mangru occupying spots two, three and five respectively.
Gajnabi, a regular face in the Windies Women’s team, finished as the second leading run-scorer overall in the T20 Blaze and top run-getter for Guyana, with 138 runs at an average of 34 and a top score of 52.
Campbell, who was selected for Pakistan, ended as the third leading scorer behind Gajnabi, with an aggregate of 128 runs, and also ended with the most dismissals by a wicket-keeper (6).
In Women’s Super50 Cup, Munisar finished as the leading wicket-taker with 12 victims and a best of 5-15, which was also the best figures of the Super50 by any bowler.
She was followed by countrywoman Niya Latchman who was the next best wicket-taker in the 50-Overs with 11 wickets, as the latter also had a selection-warranted season with the ball.
In the T20 Blaze tournament, Millington was the leading wicket-taker with 11 scalps.
The Guyanese trio statistically outplayed almost all of the other selectees for the upcoming tour, with the non-selection of three premier performers in both the T20 and 50-Overs now being questioned by the GCB.