'No Fair Break' (20 April 1999)

20 April 1999

'No Fair Break'

Philip Spooner

Ottis Gibson, overlooked for the World Cup, has called on the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to revisit its player eligibility rule.

Gibson, the Barbadian allrounder who has been playing professionally in South Africa, would like the authorities to change the rules and open the gate to all West Indians.

"There's something wrong somewhere," Gibson told NationSport. "I don't mean to be harsh or too critical, but the rule needs to be reviewed.

"We (the West Indies) are not playing the quality cricket where we can afford to leave out players like myself and Vasbert (Drakes). We have the ability and the experience to feature in the West Indies make-up."

Gibson pleaded with the West Indies board to have a look at its policies. He said the board should change its attitude to players who seek to make a living outside the region, as domestic cricket in the West Indies was not a viable option.

The WICB eligibility rule states that players must make themselves available for their home territories for regional competitions in order to qualify for international selection.

The tall fast bowler, who is also noted for his powerful batting, was speaking against the backdrop of his exclusion from the West Indies team for the upcoming World Cup in England in May and June. He and Drakes, another Barbadian playing in South Africa, dominated the republic's competitions, but neither was selected.

Gibson played for Griqualand West and got the Man-Of-The-Match in the Standard Bank One-Day semifinal for a match-winning 76 off 50 balls. Griqualand defeated Drakes' team, Border, to take the title.

Drakes had a fine season, taking 56 wickets in nine matches, with five five-wicket hauls, to take the Player-Of-The-Year award. He was, however, on the losing end again as his team lost the four-day final.

In the four-day competition he also had 246 runs (average 16.40) with a best of 61. He had 15 wickets in the One-Day tournament, at an economy rate of 3.38 per over.

Gibson knocked up 216 runs in eight four-day games, to accompany his 38 wickets, while in 13 One-Day matches he had 277 runs (average of 39.5 and 17 wickets at 26.29 apiece.

"Here you have two players who featured prominently in their team's performances and are yet left out in the cold," the 29-year-old Gibson said.

"All the commentators and observers in South Africa were wondering how can Gibson and Drakes, who do so well down here, not make a West Indies team which was trounced 5-0? South African cricket is stronger than in the Caribbean and they rate us highly. Yet we are not being considered."

The entire situation has left Gibson quite bitter and he said he would continue to ply his trade elsewhere if he remained in the wilderness.

"Since I played the one Test in South Africa I have had no correspondence with the board, but that's the way they are," Gibson said.

"In South Africa it was a desperate situation and I was in a position to help, but it's about time the WICB changes its attitude to players trying to make a living."

Source :: The Barbados Nation (https://www.nationnews.com/)