By Neto Baptiste
Former West Indies fast bowler, Kenneth Benjamin, is questioning the decision by national selectors to name some players, who are already under professional contracts for the 2024/25 Cricket West Indies (CWI) domestic season, to a senior national team set to contest this year’s LICB Men’s 50 Overs Tournament in St Kitts.
Benjamin believes that given the need to groom new players for both the Leeward Islands Hurricanes and ultimately the West Indies senior men’s team, that names like Kelvin Pitman, Jewel Andrew, Kofi James and others that are already signed by teams for the season, should not have been considered.
“Pitman has a contract with Emerging Players and he will play for Emerging Players in the Super 50, so wouldn’t it be best for somebody like Jedidiah Martin or young Miller, to give them an opportunity. It’s not a matter of if he [Pitman] wants to play, it is a matter of if we’re smart enough to expose some of our players. The chairman of selectors for the Leeward Islands made a comment that this tournament will be for looking for alternatives, people to replace some of the outgoing, and to see if one or two of the players could get a look-in for the Super 50. Those guys who are playing, like Kofi James, Jewel Andrew and Pitman, they will play Super 50,” he said.
The cricket coach believes that the move is to give the team a chance of winning the tournament, which he thinks is a less significant goal than that of grooming the next generation of professional cricketers, while giving more young players an opportunity to play at a higher level.
“I think it is a lack of foresight, and I think that Shafto [Pernell Watley] wants to win because if Hayden had said yes then he would have played too. We have to be real. Everybody is giving their young players an opportunity and we don’t have a franchise as yet where Antiguans have a large influence. We have the Falcons where a couple have gotten in, but the head coach and the owners are not really Antiguans, so we have to find a way to expose our young players,” Benjamin said.
The tournament is expected to run from September 29 to October 4. The team will be led by former USA national player and Liberta Blackhawks’ Karima Gore. The team will be coached by Pernell “Shafto” Watley with Purnell “Roxy” Joseph as his assistant and team manager. Dane Gustave will travel as team scorer.
