St John’s, Antigua – Following the injury to Dwayne Bravo Chairman of the West Indies Selection Committee Clyde Butts held discussion with Marlon Samuels about possible nomination to replace Bravo.
Marlon Samuels batting against Bangladesh in 2007 Cricket World Cup. Photo by Shiek Mohamed
After discussions Butts and Samuels agreed that he would be better served continuing to play in the WICB Regional 4 Day Tournament as he continues his return following a two year absence from the game.
Butts and Samuels agreed that he also needed to work on getting fitter for a possible return to international cricket in the future.
“Marlon has shown good form with the bat but he agrees with the Selection Committee that to return to international cricket at this stage, particularly in the high pressure situation of the Cricket World Cup would be too rushed,” Butts said.
Samuels said: “I thanked Mr. Butts for the consideration of the selectors and am honoured that they would have me in mind after such a short time returning to cricket.”
“I am not yet ready to return to the international arena. I am now getting back into competitive cricket and while I am scoring runs at the moment, the regional level and the international level are very different,” Samuels said.
“The selectors and I agree that I need to concentrate on playing at the First Class level and focus on getting all aspects of my game back to a suitable standard and recover my appetite for scoring runs,” Samuels said.
Butts indicated that the Selection Committee was pleased with Samuels’ mature self-appraisal.
“We had a healthy and positive discussion with Marlon about where he is and how he should proceed and we are exactly on the same page,” Butts said.
