Sport

 PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC):

Former West Indies off-spinner Rangy Nanan has slammed the regional cricket board for its decision to axe Ramnaresh Sarwan and Denesh Ramdin from the list of players offered central retainer contracts.

Nanan labelled the move a backward step and said it would serve to further undermine the confidence of the players.

"I think that this move by the WICB is really a backward one and they are not thinking things through properly," said Nanan, who played a single Test for West Indies against Pakistan in 1980.

"I would have thought that they would have Sarwan in their minds as a future captain of the Test team. I would like to see Sarwan as the Test captain and Dwayne Bravo as the one-day captain."

Sarwan and Ramdin were among six players snubbed for contracts when the West Indies Cricket Board announced the 14-man list on Tuesday.

The trio of Narsingh Deonarine, Dave Bernard and Travis Dowlin were also overlooked for contracts, though Bernard was offered a developmental contract.

Wrong signal

Nanan said that the decision to ignore wicketkeeper Ramdin was sending the wrong signal to the player.

"Denesh has not had the best of times recently but he has played 42 Tests, so what are they trying to tell him by their decision?" Nanan lamented.

"Do they think by taking him off the retainer it would motivate him to get back on? I think this move would only further prove to demotivate players."

Ramdin, 25, has struggled with his batting form in recent times, while Sarwan has struggled with injury and has not played a Test since last December.