29th of July, 2020. Georgetown, Guyana, South America.
Outrage continues to grow from around the world and fan base over the sidelining of professional Guyanese cricketer Veerasammy Permaul for the 2020 English Test Tour. Despite his stellar performance as a left arm spinner, Mr. Permaul was not selected for the tour: a move many say is unprecedented, unjustifiable and inexplicable.
Cricket West Indies (CWI) selection panel chairman, Roger Harper, tried to explain the decision last month by saying, “We looked at the conditions you are likely to face [in England] and the sort of bowlers that we’ll need in the squad, and [Rahkeem] Cornwall was selected as a spinner in the Test squad from his performance in his last Test match.”
But many say this explanation is not good enough. Berbice Cricket Board President, Mr. Hilbert Foster, condemned the exclusion of Permaul as “sickening treatment,” while the Guyana Cricket Board said it has written to CWI chief executive, Johnny Grave, for a logical explanation.
One fan took to social media today to express his outrage over the matter. He posted:
WHY WAS HAKEEM CORNWALL SELECTED OVER VEERSAMMY PERMAUL FOR THE 2020 ENGLISH TEST TOUR?
In West Indies Regional First Class level from 2015 when Guyana started their five-year winning streak,Veersammy Permaul took 67 wickets from 10 matches which was the most ever taken in a single season.
In 2016 he bagged 40 wickets.
In 2017 he added another 41 scalps to his tally before again reaching 50 victims in 2018.
In 2019 Veersammy Permaul took 42 wickets.
In 2020 50 wickets….which means in the last six seasons he has taken 290 wickets at an average of 16.89.
Veersammy has snared 18 five-wicket hauls and seven 10-wicket hauls during that period (2015-2020).
