Dwayne Smith retires from Barbados Pride 50-overs career

Former West Indies batsman Dwayne Smith has decided to pull the curtains on his domestic One-Day cricket for Barbados Pride after realising he has fallen off the selector’s radar. He was supposed to represent his side in the Regional Super50 tournament which commences this month. Barbados and Antigua are the hosts for the 2017 Super50 which runs from January 24 to February 18.

“I basically have to make one big decision now for sure and that’s I’m going to send in my resignation from 50-overs cricket for Barbados Pride, banking on the back of not being given the opportunity to finish my career at home,” Smith told Line and Length Network on Tuesday.

The 33-year-old said he was unhappy by not being able to finish his career at home in this year’s 50-Over tournament but the circumstances around him left him with no choice but to call it quits, reports CMC.

“I really wanted to, I’ve asked the selectors, I’ve spoken to them but obviously they had their different plans and I guess I didn’t fit in.

“It was touching, it hurt me a lot because I really wanted — even if it was one game I played in the 50-overs competition coming up I would have been happy,” he added.

Smith has garnered 3,500 runs from 183 List A games at an average of 23 but had a disappointing outing in last year’s Super50 when he managed just 116 runs from eight innings at an average of 14. Smith has been missing from the international arena for quite a some time and has not played an ODI or T20 International for the West Indies in two years, and said he had accepted this reality even though nothing formal had been communicated.

“A lot of the youngsters had asked me to finish in Barbados because I had told them I was not going to continue but they really, really wanted (me to finish at home),” said Smith, who quit first-class cricket two years ago.

“I really wanted to finish at home seeing that I knew the tournament was going to play at home but life goes on, I can’t really dwell on that.”

“For the last two years or so, the team they have put together have been gelling well together and I love to see that camaraderie.”

Smith has struggled to maintain a permanent place in the West Indies team as the opener. After making his debut in the year 2004, Smith managed to feature in 105 ODIs and made 1,560 runs in 105 ODIs and also played in 33 T20Is accumulating 582 runs.