Lloyd criticises GCB selectors for Chattergoon’s non-selection

– says board should not have amateurs dealing with a professional sport

By Rajiv Bisnauth

The Guyana Cricket Board selectors have come in for harsh criticism from West Indies legend Clive Lloyd following the exclusion of former West Indies opening batsman Sewnarine Chattergoon from the Guyana Super50 and Four-day squads for the WICB competitions that start next month.
The 31-year-old, Albion left-handed batsman, who played four Test matches and 18 ODIs for the Caribbean side was left out from both squads last Wednesday by the Guyana Cricket Board.
In an exclusive interview on Tuesday, Lloyd, the former West Indies captain, revealed that Chattergoon deserves more respect as a senior player, adding that he was unfairly treated by the selectors.
“This guy (Chattergoon) is a Test cricketer, he is no ordinary player, he had played for the West Indies, so that means that he got the pedigree, the skills and he probably wants to get back in there. Chattergoon has made runs in the local cricket, then he’s got to play, you can’t say because of shot selection. I can’t say how good the bowling in Guyana is but I think we have some very good cricketers and if a man is making runs and taking wickets they must play,” Lloyd said.
Lloyd, who is also the chairman of the government-established Interim Management Committee (IMC) added, “The selectors are claiming that he (Chattergoon) had chances before scoring big runs but that happens in cricket, a lot of people got chances before they get big scores but when that happens you make use of the chances and that is what Chattergoon did.
So I don’t think that should be a fair reason for leaving him out. I think he was unfairly treated. Some of the comments were not intelligent cricket comments, he Chattergoon shown maturity and he made runs, if he didn’t make any runs then you can say ‘shot selection’ was the problem, but his shot selection  must be pretty good because he made big scores.”
Lloyd took a swipe at the selectors, noting that the board should not have amateurs dealing with a professional sport.
Chattergoon was the leading run scorer in the just-concluded Guyana Cricket Board Inter-County four-day tournament with 273 runs in five innings, including one hundred and two half centuries. Selectors subsequently said he was not selected because of his poor shot selection during the tournament.
Chattergoon, has represented Guyana in 72 First Class matches since making his debut in 1999, scoring 3746 runs with his highest score being 143. He also played 65 List A games where he accumulated 1660 runs.