‘Injustice!’ Sarwan slams selectors over exclusion of Adams

Former Chairman of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Senior Selection Panel, Ramnaresh Sarwan, has voiced his displeasure over the non-selection of left-arm spinner Antony Adams to the Guyana Harpy Eagles 13-man squad for the first two rounds of the West Indies Four-Day Championship.

“Injustice to a young man who has worked tremendously hard on his game and fitness. Who without any doubt deserve[s] to be in [the] Guyana team,” Sarwan stated Thursday on Facebook in response to the justification the current selection panel gave for Adams’ non-selection.

Sarwan was the man in charge of the selection panel when the GCB Executive took office in March 2021, but had to step down when he was elevated to the West Indies selection panel in January 2022.

Ravindranauth Seeram, a former national coach and player, replaced Sarwan as chair of the GCB panel.

Seeram, currently assisted by Albert Clements (Berbice), Peter Persaud (Demerara), and Elroy Stephany (Essequibo) on the panel, hosted a press briefing on Thursday along with Clements and Territorial Development Officer, Colin Stuart, to explain the panel’s selection rationale.

In the case of Adams, they opted for another left-arm spinner, Ashmead Nedd, who finished the two practice matches with three wickets, while the experienced Adams had six.

However, it was explained at the press briefing, which lasted just over 30 minutes and arguably left the public with more questions than answers, that Adams’ four wickets on the final day came after the squad was selected.

“We were given a time to select the team, which was Friday, and Antony Adams got his four wickets after the team was selected. So, based on that, you saw Nedd bowling, and he bowled pretty well where chances were given off of him and I think that is the reason why Nedd was selected in front of Adams,” Seeram stated.

“Adams was not in the best role as a spinner,” Seeram added.

In the two practice matches, Adams had figures of 1-15 (nine overs),1-10 (five overs), 0-25 (seven overs), and 4-25 (seven overs), while Nedd got 1-72 (12 overs), 1-16 (10 overs) and 1-48 (19 overs).

Clements further indicated that Nedd, 22, has experience playing List A cricket where he found success in “containing” batsmen, and would be a useful addition to the squad.

In contrast, Adams has dominated the domestic tournaments, and initially due to the combination of Devendra Bishoo and Veersammy Permaul and then Gudakesh Motie and Permaul, he has not been able to add to his one First-Class match in 2017.

But given he was with the squad last season along with Permaul and Motie, albeit, he was a travelling reserve, the expectation was that Motie’s recall to the Test side for an ongoing tour to Zimbabwe paved the way for Adams to join the 13-man squad and press for a spot in the playing XI.

Captain Leon Johnson, who learnt of his selection to the squad via Facebook, stated on Tuesday, “Now that Motie is unavailable due to West Indies selection, you thought a player like Antony, who is not experienced at the First-Class level, but he is very experienced generally, would have gotten the nod.”

Harpy Eagles depart on January 29 for Antigua to face defending champions Barbados Pride from February 1, then Windward Volcanoes from February 8 in Grenada.

The Championship then takes a break and resumes on March 15 for the remaining three rounds in Trinidad and Tobago.