Show your?commitment to the West Indies team!
That’s the message from chairman of selectors Clyde Butts to Barbadian left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn if he wants to be considered for international cricket in the near future.
Benn, 30, has been excluded from the regional side in all formats following unfavourable reports from the team management about his behaviour during the World Cup.
After missing the home series against Pakistan and India, the lanky bowler was also overlooked for the under-strength squad for the two Twenty20s in England next month.
“I think Sulieman Benn would tell you point-blank that he is available for selection, but of course you know what happened when Sulieman Benn went to the World Cup with us,” Butts said in a television interview on Sports Max on Tuesday evening.
“We had some issues with Benn and nothing has happened since then to show us that he has changed his ways and certainly wants to play for West Indies,” Butts explained.
Benn has had a string of disciplinary problems since debuting for West Indies in 2008.
He was suspended for two One-Day Internationals (ODIs) for an incident involving Brad Haddin during West Indies’ tour of Australia in 2009. During South Africa’s visit in 2010 he received another ban for an altercation with Dale Steyn and was also sent off the field in an ODI by his captain Chris Gayle for refusing to carry out an instruction.
Legspinner Devendra Bishoo took over Benn’s spot in the side.
Benn was West Indies’ lead spinner till the World Cup, and performed moderately well, taking 51 wickets in 17 Tests and 29 wickets in 25 ODIs.
“I know the board has been trying to put some things in place for him and one just hopes he can reform,” Butts said.
“And [that] he can start thinking slightly different now and look at himself as a man who actually has been performing fairly reasonable for West Indies and would want to go on and play for West Indies for a long time.”
