Ramkessoon resigns from selection committee

Dudnath Ramkessoon has sent his letter of resignation from the Trinidad & Tobago selection committee after he was removed as the head of the committee earlier this month.

Ramkessoon, who headed the selection committee for five years, said the T&T board's justification for replacing him as part of giving opportunities to others to gain experience was simply a case of "political victimisation". Ramkessoon criticised the decision to replace him, first by Larry Gomes and then Narine Bidhesi. "The decision to relieve Mr Larry Gomes of the chairmanship and appoint Mr Narine Bidhesi as part of your overnight decision of succession planning ... is in my view a convenient use of terms for what others and I see as 'political victimisation'," Ramkessoon wrote in a letter to Deryck Murray, the T&T board president. During his term, T&T won the regional domestic one-day competition thrice and the first-class competition once.

He alleged that some senior board officials were trying to interfere in the selection process. "Recent occurrences were pointing to subtle attempts being made by certain senior officials of the board to interfere in, and to prejudice the selection process, as well as to compromise my integrity and the independence of the selection panel." He said the decision to demote him was "a crude and callous attempt to frustrate me".

Earlier this week a letter from the national players to the board stating their unhappiness over Ramkessoon's removal was leaked to the media.