 Taking a step back, that's what Trinidad and Tobago Batsman Darren Bravo says he will do after being snubbed off a place in the West Indies One Day International Squad for the upcoming series against England, which bulls off on Sunday in Antigua and Barbuda. This is what he posted to Instagram at the weekend. I've taken some time to ponder and wonder what's my next step moving forward as a cricketer. At this point in my career, it's not easy or should I say it takes a lot to continue to find the energy, the passion, commitment and discipline to be able to perform to the best of my ability and to put myself in a position to make my return to international cricket. Without any level of communication, I've been left in a very dark place. At the moment, there's three teams representing the region in multiple formats or series. That's approximately 40-45 players and if I can't be in any of these teams after competing in our regional tournaments and scoring runs, therefore, they are basically telling me that the writing is on the wall. I'm not giving up but I believe it's best to step away just for a bit and maybe make some room for a young and upcoming talent. I will end by wishing each and everyone all the very best. I've lived my dream. 46. Hashtag, age is just a number. All right, so Ricardo, you know, this has been a discussion on the Sportsmark Zone. We had DJ Bravo, the older brother of Darren Bravo on the show when the news came out of the team, you know, being selected against England. Darren Bravo has posted this on Instagram now. You stand at the top of the show, he appears broken, you know, he's rejected based on the fact that I would think he's done what was required of him because in order to be selected for the windy squad, you have to contribute in the area that you're specialized in in a really good manner to be in contention for a spot. He was the top scorer in the Super 50 tournament this year and the year before. We sit here now with broken Darren Bravo, who feels as if he needs to take a step back and think about what's next because he would feel, Ricardo, he's done everything that was required of him except his age and to me that age is still a different topic of discussion because other players very close in age to him got selected. What do you make of it? Yeah, so as I said earlier, Mariah, when I read the post from Darren Bravo, I felt the frustration, I felt the hurt, I felt the disappointment that he is not in this one day international's quantifies England because as you pointed out, he has done everything that the selectors or the selection policy in my opinion would have asked of him. You look at his contributions in the last four editions of the regional Super 50, for example, where he is averaging 83, 48, 95, 96. Every single one of those seasons, for example, he has a better average than let's say Kieran Utley, who is in the squad. Kieran Utley is 33 years old. Bravo is 34 years old. Desmond Haynes has said that Bravo's omission from this squad is because they are looking to the future, because they are looking to the next World Cup tournament. So is the suggestion then that a 33-year-old Kieran Utley is in your plans for four years down the road but a 34-year-old Darren Bravo who is scoring over the last four editions of the Super 50 significantly more runs than Utley is not in your plans. There is something wrong with that as far as I am concerned. This to me, Mariah, is the type of decision that selectors can and maybe even should be sacked for because the explanation is too far wide from what you have done on a whole. It does not make any sense for you to say, Darren Bravo is too old and is not in our plans for three years, yet you pick someone who is a year younger than he is. 33, 34, what's the big difference when Darren Bravo has been making significantly more runs. So that in itself is a problem. I also take note, Mariah, of the cricket West Indies president, Dr. Kishore Shallow, coming out and saying there is no policy on age or there is no policy on excluding any player based on their age. That's significant for me. Also what I consider to be significant, Mariah, is what Desmond Haynes said about Darren Bravo back in February and I want to remind our viewers of exactly what he said. This was during the regional four day. Bravo had just come off a pair of centuries and this is what Desmond Haynes said. Being the Caribbean, we don't have the luxury to really talk about age is not on someone's side. If someone is doing very well in our competition, I think his name must come up for selection. I think Bravo has proven that he can play cricket at the highest level and it's just a matter of if we can get the guys if they're committed and they really want to play. But Bravo is a class art. I mean, he has done well at test level at a period where he just lost his form and so forth. But we know that Bravo is good enough to make runs at this level and we will continue to monitor Bravo's progress. So I'm not saying that you can't change your mind, right? But in February, we don't have the luxury of not picking our best players, which by the way, I completely agree with. I don't think West Indus cricket has the luxury of not picking your best players in the moment. I don't think any team that is losing consistently has the luxury of not picking your best team. You pick your best team in the know, you get the results and you build with those results over time. Dwayne Bravo mentioned it last week as well. At the end of every World Cup cycle, the selectors speak about building for the next World Cup, building for the next World Cup. But then you're either struggling to qualify or if you manage to squeeze into the tournament, you're finishing ninth or tenth. So you're not seeing the results of that quote and quote building process. Why we are not thinking about picking our best players and getting as many wins as possible is beyond me. So what? You are willing to go another three years continuing to lose? That doesn't make any sense to me. So that I have a problem with. But in February, Mariah, Desmond Haynes is saying we don't have the luxury of not picking our best players, but now he is singing a completely different tune. I also note that in February he was speaking about it's about whether the players are committed and really want to play. And so I have to be thinking to myself because nothing else makes sense. Is it that the selectors don't think that Darren Bravo is committed and really wants to play? But he has appeared on the show and we've asked him about his commitment and he has expressed his desire publicly to of course represent the Western East. One of the things though when DJ Bravo was on right, Layton asked Bravo because of course when we do interviews, we were at the core trying to get a balanced interview. So Layton brought the point Ricardo about DJ Bravo. Thank you for that. Darren Bravo representing in the Super 50 and not giving the same performance and win these colors, right? Layton asked about that. And DJ Bravo of course explained that he has not been afforded numerous opportunities to do that because when he gets the momentum, of course, he's dropped. So for me, I'm wondering if that was a consideration when the selectors... It shouldn't be. It shouldn't be. And I tell you why Mariah, in my opinion, Darren Bravo and in a way he admitted this when he spoke with us as well. Darren Bravo was prematurely brought back into the West Indies setup. And so his results, especially in Test Cricket, he had that horrible tour of New Zealand, for example, after his return. I think he averaged about 13 in seven or eight Test matches. But in my opinion, he was prematurely brought back into the setup. He got dropped. He should have been dropped at the time. But the fact is, Darren Bravo has gone back, worked on his game. He has improved significantly. He has put the performance is done both in 50 over cricket and four day cricket at the regional level. And I think deserves an opportunity at this stage to be back in the West Indies fold. Now, if you select him on the back of his performances at the regional level and he goes to the highest level again and does not perform, then we can have a different conversation, Mariah. But you cannot look at Darren's numbers at the regional level in recent times and judge him based on what was happening four or five years ago when, as I said, he was prematurely brought back into the fall. And when we spoke to him, he did say he got selected at times when he never thought he was going to be selected. But I think what we have to make up in our minds, and this is where I am disappointed in Desmond Haynes as head of the selection panel. Do we believe that the quality that Darren Bravo has that he can still contribute significantly over a three or a four year period, even if it is going to be a two year period to West Indies cricket? And if the answer to that is yes, then the performances he's put down at the regional level should be more than enough for him to have been selected for this series against England. And it's disappointing that he is not selected, but it is even more disappointing the reason that has been put forward by Desmond Haynes, why he is not selected. So this stepping away from international cricket, this camp, Ricardo, is this a permanent step away? No, he's hurt. This is a 34 year old man who is begging to be heard at this stage because he does not feel that his performances are getting him the required attention from the selectors. And so now he doesn't know what to do. And this is what he does. He goes on social media like we've seen with modern day sportsmen and women. Yeah. And he put something out there. And I completely understand it because as I said, I hear the frustration in that post from Darren Bravo, because he knows he should have been selected. The entire Caribbean knows that he should have been selected. Clearly the only ones who don't know that Darren Bravo should have been selected are the selectors. And I tell you something, Mariah, again, I'm sorry I have to repeat this, but what makes it worse is that you pick a 33 year old Kieran Utley, who did not perform as well as Darren Bravo did in the Super 50 tournament, who has in four seasons not performed as well as Darren Bravo has at regional four day or 50 over level. And then you've shot yourself in the foot as far as I'm concerned when you make selections like that. It does not make any sense. And even the Windy's Academy team and all that, you know, Bravo went on to say approximately 40 to 45 players are playing and he hasn't even made any of the teams, not just the Windy's team, but any of the other teams. And I think that as well, you know, it evokes a lot of questions because, okay, he doesn't make the big team, the Windy's senior team, but what about the rest of the team? Yeah, he's probably not going to make the emerging team, but definitely the A team. If you want to see him playing at a higher level in other conditions, whatever the case, and maybe you think, then okay, send him to South Africa, get him some A team cricket. I mean, that would make sense to me if this is someone you see that can contribute significantly to West Indies cricket, but that has not been done. And yeah, you know, Mariah, I am convinced that there is some other reason that Desmond Haynes feels he cannot say that is stopping him and the selection panel as a whole from picking Darren Bravo, because clearly it can't be cricket. But then you come up with a different reason, don't say age, because I think that's the point I'm making. I'm suggesting that there is another reason that Desmond Haynes feels he cannot say publicly. Now, I would much prefer Desmond Haynes putting that reason out there, but then he would probably say, I am in the media, so of course I want the school. But if you're not going to put that reason out there, then don't come up with the one that you came up with. Do a much better job than the reason you came up with, because that is not good enough. And that makes Desmond Haynes and the entire selection panel of cricket West Indies look foolish. And again, I love the fact that the president, Kishore Schaller, came out and said, we have no policy about not selecting an individual because of their age. Important point. I'll say before we go, Mariah, hold strong, Darren Bravo, hold strong. I think your time is still coming. Give it a few months. It will happen.