Mc Lean is bitter-sweet

Coach of the Senior St. Vincent and the Grenadines Cricket team Nixon Alexei McNamara Mc Lean is peeved that more Vincentians were not selected to the Windwards team for the four-day regional competition,{{more}} despite team SVG lifting the 2011 Windwards title the third time in as many years.

Mc Lean, a former St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Windwards and West Indies fast bowler, did not hide his feelings last week Thursday night at Club 28, at the Presentation and Closing Ceremony of the Windwards tournament.

As the team was being named by Chairman of selectors, St. Lucian Julian Charles, he made audible comments and gesticulations.

In an interview with SEARCHLIGHT later that evening, the Vincentian coach said he was particularly aggrieved at the non inclusion in the team of Salvan Browne.

“How can the batsman with the third highest total in the competition not make even the twenty three?” Mc Lean questioned.

During the tournament, Browne scored 107 runs from three innings.

The Windwards selectors of Charles, along with Stanley Hinds and Charles Walters, selected 13 players for the first two rounds of matches, and another 10 in the reserves.

Charles, in announcing the team, stated that all players who participated in the tournament are on standby and effectively among the reserves.

Mc Lean, who played 19 tests and 45 One Day Internationals for the West Indies, did not buy that, and further reasoned. “Salvan has been our most consistent batsman.”

The former fast bowler also noted that Browne (Salvan) was the only player who was adjudged his team’s Most Valuable Player yet not included in the twenty-three players initially named.

“I was a player once, and I know how it feels,” Mc Lean, who still turns out for Spartans in the local competitions added.

Mc Lean also raised his brows at the non-inclusion of one of his fast bowlers, Kesrick Williams, who made first class debut earlier this year for the Windwards, but has been completely overlooked by the selectors.

The team selected is Darren Sammy – Captain, Devon Smith, Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Kenroy Peters, Keddy Lesporis, Liam Sebastian, Lindon James, Garey Mathurin, Nellon Pascal, Dellorn Johnson, Shane Shillingford and Dalton Polius.

The reserves are Sunil Ambris, Atticus Browne, Denis George, Sergio Fedee, Junior Jervier, Samuel Mitchell, Kaveem Hodge, Xavier Gabriel, Kieron Cottoy and Vincent Lewis.

Nevertheless, Mc Lean was high in praise for his charges, which he said was “the best prepared team in the competition”.

I must congratulate the guys on a good performance, as they were well prepared,” Mc Lean said, as he regained his composure.

“We had a ten week programme in place, and I must thank the Cricket Association for embracing it,” he added.

“We played a brand of Cricket, which was different from the others,” Mc Lean boasted.

Elaborating on his team’s preparations, the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Coach stated: “We had seven to eight persons coming in to talk and give lectures to the guys, and all that helped psychologically”.

Mc Lean revealed that part of their preparation was a journey to La Soufriere which aided the camaraderie, and at the same time was a test of their physical conditions.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines finished with 22 points, ahead of St. Lucia with 18 points; Grenada totaled 12 and Dominica 7.