Darren Bravo dropped from West Indies squad for Zimbabwe tour after lashing out at WICB

St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda: Darren Bravo was axed by the West Indies on Saturday after the key batsman blasted the team’s top official as “a big idiot” in row over contracts. Bravo, 27, was dropped from the squad for the forthcoming tri-nations one-day series in Zimbabwe after he hit out at the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) for their offer of a C-category contract. In a Twitter outburst, the Trinidadian told WICB president Dave Cameron to quit over the handling of new deals offered to the leading stars of the sport’s fallen giants. “You have been failing 4 d last 4yrs. Y don’t u resign and FYI I’ve neva been given an A contract. Big idiot @davec51,” tweeted Bravo.  

  A WICB spokesman said Bravo had been replaced in the squad by Jason Mohammed “due to inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour, which is contrary to his contractual obligations to the WICB”. The trio of Bravo, senior all-rounder Marlon Samuels and T20I skipper Carlos Brathwaite had declined central contracts from the board for the year stretching to September next year. While the board did not initially give an official explanation for the decline, Bravo, who has been the most consistent batsman for the Caribbean side in the longest format, was reported to have been overlooked for the top tier and offered a Grade C contract. The row between the flamboyant left-handed batsman and the board chief erupted after the latter gave an explanation for their offer, stating that Bravo’s performances “were not consistent enough to merit a higher grade of pay. “His averages in the last two years have been declining, so what do you do? Reward poor performance or do you encourage him to get better,” Cameron was quoted as saying according to a report on ESPNCricinfo. Bravo decided to hit out at the allegations on Twitter by accusing him and the board officials of never offering him a Grade A contract in the first place despite his consistency. This is not the first time by any means that the WICB has resorted to swift action against any voice of dissent or suddenly axed their top employees. Two-time ICC World T20-winning captain Darren Sammy was axed shortly after he led his side to the title win in April earlier this year after he launched a scathing attack on the board officials during the presentation ceremony in the the tournament final. He was then sacked as the West Indies captain in the shortest format of the game in a “ 30-second phone call ” in August earlier this year, getting replaced by Brathwaite. Bravo’s exit leaves the West Indies short of a player who has made 95 ODI appearances and 2,595 runs. The 30-year old all-rounder Mohammed recently captained West Indies A Team in the 3-0 series win over Sri Lanka A in Sri Lanka where he scored 105 not out, 58 and 14. Leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo has been named in the squad to replace off-spinner Sunil Narine who has withdrawn from the squad for “personal reasons”, said the spokesman. Bishoo was the leading bowler for West Indies in the recent Test Series against Pakistan in United Arab Emirates (UAE) — where he took 18 wickets in the three matches. The 31-year-old has played 13 ODIs, with 20 wickets at an average of 23.8. The West Indies, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka feature in the tri-nation series from 14-27 November. West Indies squad: Jason Holder (captain), Sulieman Benn, Devendra Bishoo, Carlos Brathwaite, Kraigg Brathwaite, Jonathan Carter, Johnson Charles, Miguel Cummins, Shane Dowrich, Shannon Gabriel, Shai Hope, Evin Lewis, Jason Mohammed, Ashley Nurse, Rovman Powell. With inputs from AFP