da bet sport： The country reacted with anger and disgust over Sherwin Campbell’somission from a West Indies training squad from which the team to tourZimbabwe and Kenya will be chosen
Haydn Gill24-May-2001The country reacted with anger and disgust over Sherwin Campbell’somission from a West Indies training squad from which the team to tourZimbabwe and Kenya will be chosen. But the man at the centre of thefurore remained upbeat.Obviously, there is a chance that my days could be numbered, a modestCampbell told NATIONSPORT yesterday.I’m not the oldest guy, but I’ve got to be positive and realistic, the30-year-old opening batman added.I have to stay positive all the time and always feel there is a chanceand never give up.The squad of 22 for the pre-tour training camp in Trinidad from May 28to June 8 includes three specialist opening batsmen Chris Gayle, LeonGarrick and Daren Ganga along with Wavell Hinds, a regular No 3 whowas asked to go in first in four Tests in the recent series againstSouth Africa.At no stage did any of them emphatically make a statement withconsistent heavy scoring against the South Africans.But they were preferred to a batsman whose fighting qualities are wellknown and who has been the West Indies’ most reliable opener sinceDesmond Haynes left the international arena in 1995.I am a little disappointed, but that’s life and that’s how things go,said Campbell, whose 51 Tests brought him 2 856 runs (ave. 32.82) andfour centuries.I’ve got to put it behind me and think about the future and thinkabout ways and means of getting back into the team.I don’t think you can kill yourself over it. Of course I amdisappointed, like anyone else, but it’s not the end of the world.Two-and-a-half years ago when Campbell was not picked for the WestIndies’ tour to South Africa, he responded with a prolific run in the1999 Busta Cup and was immediately recalled.You have to focus on getting back into the team and doing well toprove the selectors wrong, Campbell said.That is my main goal to focus on my performance and think about mygame some more and focus on getting scores consistently.The Barbados captain does not feel that the pressure is on him to theextent that he has to come back and prove a point.I just think I have to get out there and score runs and be consistent,he said.Campbell recently returned from New York where he visited Dr AnsworthAllen for an opinion on a shoulder injury he first sustained duringlast October’s Red Stripe Bowl.When I throw from the deep it affects me a little bit, but from closein and when I’m batting, it’s fine, Campbell said.When I throw from the deep it is not as strong as I would like it tobe.It is an injury which requires an operation and in view of his noninclusion in the West Indies training squad, he hopes to have thesurgery as soon as possible.I have not set a date as yet, but hopefully it will be very soon, hesaid.