West Indies to miss Bravo and Hetmyer in England
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|| Desk Report ||
Former West Indies fast bowlers Michael Holding and Ian Bishop said that West Indies will miss the valuable services of both Darren Bravo and Shimron Hatmyer in the upcoming Test series against England.
Besides Bravo and Hetmyer, Keemo Paul has also refused to travel to the United Kingdom (UK) for the Wisden Trophy amid the growing threat of the deadly coronavirus pandemic worldwide that already killed few lakh people and affected a string lakh of people across the globe.
The highly-anticipated series between the two traditional cricket teams will start on July 8.
“I think it’s unfortunate as far as West Indies cricket is concerned. I’m not going to tell anyone that they should be going to England because COVID-19 is around, someone may get sick or even worse,”Michael Holding said.
“But at the same time I think it’s unfortunate for the West Indies team because these guys have quite a bit of talent, and they’ll be missed,” Holding said on his Youtube channel.
Holding said the England series would have been a good chance for Bravo to revive his career after being dropped for the Afghanistan Test in November.
“I’m sorry that Bravo in particular isn’t going because Bravo, I think, needs to resuscitate his career. He started off so brilliantly, everybody thought he was going to be another great West Indian batsman,” Holding, who is busy in running commentary across the globe, said.
“He hasn’t really fulfilled that. I think the more cricket he can play now, especially for West Indies, the better chance he has of getting back on track and showing everyone the great player that he could be,” he also said of the highly rated Hetmyer.
“Hetmyer, again, I think he’s a very, very talented player. I think people have heard me talk about him in the past. Again, I’m sorry that he’s not going so that he can get more opportunity to express himself. But I ain’t blaming them for not going,” he added.
Bishop echoed Holding’s sentiments, saying players must get an option during a health crisis situation.
“You have to give players the option because it’s a world health crisis,” Bishop told the Trinidad Express.
“If a player decides he does not want to take that health risk, you can’t hold it against him in this context. The players know they are taking a risk if someone who replaced those goes on to have great success. That’s a chance you take,” he added.
