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DCB Confident of Pepsi/Carib 20/20 win tonight
Dowlin yet to officially explain his withdrawal as Captain – DCB President
Bissoon Singh
By Sean Devers
The Demerara Cricket Board (DCB) is confident that the fourteen-man squad selected for the Pepsi/Carib Inter County 20/20 final at the Guyana National Stadium this evening will perform exceptionally well and Demerara will retain the title.
“This is despite the lack of co-operation from the captain selected Travis Dowlin and the efforts of the Georgetown Cricket Association to damage the morale of this bunch of talented cricketers selected,” a DCB press release stated.
“The Board will like to publicly admit that Travis Dowlin, a national cricketer has not been the least responsible to the team selected nor the cricket loving fans of Demerara who have followed his career and celebrated his achievements over the years. Mr. Dowlin owes the younger players selected on this squad and this mighty county an apology for his unbecoming behavior as a captain selected,” the release continued.
According to the DCB, the 31-year-old Dowlin declined the captaincy at the ‘last minute’ when Demerara played Berbice at Blairmont last Saturday.
The DCB release added that at the last minute the next day Dowlin, who averages 46.33 form eight regional 20/20 games, withdrew from the team for a match everyone knows was critical. “If Demerara did not reach the final, it is not Dowlin, that would have lost but all of the players and Demerara fans who put their resources and hearts in this game,” the release stressed.
The DCB wants the public to know that Roderick Lovell (the city representative on the Demerara selection panel) lobbied for the exclusion of four Georgetown players (Ravi Sarwan, Shemroy Barrington, Steven Jacobs and Rajendra Chandrika) and Maxwell Fraser from West Demerara.
“Mr. Panday’s assertions that the selection panel is not credible are ludicrous since the panel is in keeping with the constitutional requirement of a member from each sub-association and a chairman selected by the DCB. This is perhaps the first time that an honest attempt was made to involve all the selectors.
“These players were selected in a manner that justifies the DCB’s intended selection methodology. The methodology used was democratic, transparent, fair and accountable.
The public should be mindful of this attempt by the GCA to smear the image of the DCB and cricket in Guyana as whole to promote its own agenda of gaining independence at the Guyana Cricket Board level,” the release said.
And DCB President Bissoon Singh told Kaieteur Sports yesterday afternoon that Dowlin is yet to officially explain why he gave up the captaincy and failed to play against Essequibo even though a letter on the matter was sent to him.
“It seems strange that he decided to explain his problem to the GCA after he and Coach (Gavin) Nedd had no problems with the team or it’s management when they attended a special meeting organized by the DCB the day before the first match.
For a man at his level and whom I feel should be in the West Indies team, he ought to have been responsible enough and let us know of his problems. We (DCB) feel very dejected that he chose to speak to others before letting us,” Singh lamented.
“Dowlin is still a member of the team and we hope he can put aside all the baggage so that we can play as a unified force and have a wonderful night tomorrow (tonight) since we still have tremendous confidence in him as a cricketer,” Singh concluded.
The DCB is asking the players selected for today’s final not to be distracted by the attempts of those that are hinging their success on the failure of the Demerara team and invites all Guyana to the Stadium as Demerara hunt a second consecutive Inter-County 20/20 title.
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