Ramdin says Red Force selectors are disrespecting senior players

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC):

Axed Trinidad and Tobago Red Force wicketkeeper/batsman Denesh Ramdin has blasted the team's selectors for their lack of respect for senior players like himself, and has even gone as far as accusing coach Mervyn Dillon of not wanting him around.

In an interview on the Mason & Guest radio show here Tuesday, the former West Indies captain said the disrespect by the selectors and the uncertainty team members were feeling as a result of sudden changes in the squad were affecting morale.

The veteran cricketer, who Red Force chairman of selectors Tony Gray said had been omitted from the 13-man side for the sixth and seventh rounds of the tournament because of a lack of form, added that there was a serious problem in communication between players and management.

Been overlooked

"They're not respecting our senior players ... They are doing their own thing, basically," the former Red Force skipper said, adding that he was not the only experienced player who has been overlooked.

"Ravi Rampaul was available for the whole season and they just bypassed him. When you look around there's no one who can bowl faster than this guy. He helps the younger players."

In the two matches he played for Red Force this season, Ramdin batted three times and scored just 16 runs in one instance and two ducks in the others. He ended last season with 348 runs, including two half-centuries, at an average of almost 22.

Ramdin admitted being "shocked and surprised" at being dropped, adding that the chairman of selectors had advised him to "play club cricket".

"Our system is very strange. They will call you and let you know when you get dropped, but when you get selected you have to read it in the news. It's very disrespectful," he told radio show hosts Andrew Mason and Dr Andrew Forde.

Ramdin said he would have loved to captain the team for one more season, to give the younger players guidance, but believed he was not appreciated or wanted by Dillon, with whom he said he did not "see eye-to-eye".