Guyana board to take disciplinary action against Sarwan

The Guyana Cricket Board has said it will take disciplinary action against Ramnaresh Sarwan, the Guyana and West Indies batsman, after Sarwan publicly criticised the board for not picking him in Guyana's squad for the Caribbean T20. A GCB release said Sarwan had telephoned Guyana's chairman of selectors Reyon Griffith on December 4, the day the squad was announced, and "engaged in behaviour now attracting the attention of the Guyana Police Force."

The board had said the selectors had not picked Sarwan because they were not sure he would be fit to play, but Sarwan had said "that is total c**p" and that he had informed the president of the board and Griffith that he had recovered from the injury that kept him out of West Indies' tours of Bangladesh and India. The board, however, have said it had asked Sarwan to submit a medical report proving his fitness and only received a document on December 5, a day after the 14-man squad for the Caribbean T20 had been selected.

The board also questioned whether the document Sarwan had submitted could be considered a medical report since it was submitted by a personal trainer and not a doctor.

"This 'document' originated from Mr. Forrest Nelson, a personal trainer who has a degree as a physical therapy assistant (PTA)," a GCB release said. "The presentation of this document as a medical report by an assistant physical therapist is viewed as unethical and possibly illegal."

Sarwan had said he had informed the board of his fitness personally and when they asked him to provide evidence he had "got the experts who treated me to send an e-mail to me which I forwarded to the GCB on the status of my injury."

The GCB said Sarwan had contacted the board on November 12 and said he would be fit by December 2. The board, however, pointed to the fact that Sarwan had spent time in Canada, where temperatures are sub-zero at this time of year, rather than playing in the local T20 tournament in Guyana that was used to pick the Caribbean T20 squad.

"The GCB received communication from Mr Sarwan on November 12 indicating he was confident he would be injury free by December2; this was passed on to the chairman of selectors," the release said. "The Carib/Pepsi 20/20 Big Smash competition was designed to provide opportunities and preparation for cricketers, and at no time was Mr. Sarwan ineligible to play. Mr Sarwan's suggestion that he is working on 'match fitness' in Canada during the winter is baffling."

Sarwan had said the board were being inconsistent in using his non-participation in the local T20 tournament as a reason for leaving him out of the Caribbean T20, since he had not played in Guyana's local 50-over tournament either yet had was picked in the Guyana squad for the WICB's 50-over event.

"The behaviour of Mr Sarwan subsequent to his non-selection to the Guyana team and his continued attempts to influence the selection process and abuse to executive members has caused grave concern at the Guyana Cricket Board and we are in the process of instituting disciplinary measures," the GCB release said.

Guyana will go into the Caribbean T20 with Ravindranauth Seeram, the former Guyana captain, as head coach. Seeram had been replaced by former Guyana team-mate Mark Harper for this year's regional first-class championship and Regional Super50 tournament. The GCB appoints coaches on a tournament-by-tournament basis and given Seeram's success in the July 2010 Caribbean T20, which Guyana won, they have re-appointed him for the 2011-12 event.