ST.JOHN'S, Antigua, CMC:
THE INTERNATIONAL Cricket Council (ICC) will decide today if it will allow the reinstatement of batsman Marlon Samuels on the West Indies roster for the 2003 World Cup.
The ICC contacted West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president Rev Wes Hall yesterday and notified him of the meeting, after a formal written application by Roger Brathwaite, Acting Chief Executive Officer of the WICB, and telephone communication between Rev Hall and Malcolm Speed, Chief Executive Officer of the ICC, who also heads the World Cup technical committee.
"The President has already stated that we will do all in our power to have Marlon play in the CWC 2003 and resolution of this matter now rests with the ICC," remarked Michael Hall, the Chief Cricket Operations Officer of the WICB.
West Indies face South Africa in the opening match of the CWC 2003 on Sunday at Newlands in Cape Town.
In the meantime, the 22-year-old Samuels returned home to Jamaica on Wednesday afternoon from the United States, where new medical tests cleared him to compete in the World Cup.
He had been extracted from the West Indies squad when selectors - after looking at an early medical report - decided he was not fit enough to face the rigours of World Cup competition.
"At no point did I have any doubt about my fitness or my ability to play at the highest level," Samuels said in a statement on Wednesday.
Medical reports on Samuels' troublesome left knee from Dr. Answorth Allen of the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, and Dr. Michael Mont of Baltimore, Maryland, cleared the way last weekend for the talented young batsman to start playing immediately.
"The conclusions of Drs Allen and Mont only prove what I knew all along - that I could play as long as I continued to understand the nature of my problem knee," Samuels said.
Samuels admitted he was devastated when he was pulled out of the squad, and was set to play for Jamaica in their Carib Beer Series match against the Leeward Islands in Anguilla when he was convinced by the WICB to seek urgent medical attention.
"When Sir Vivian Richards broke the news to me I was absolutely floored. My decision to play for Jamaica following this news was never to thumb my nose at the selection committee or the WICB. Rather I felt that to sit home and watch cricket while I was in fine playing condition would be unfair to myself, my country and many fans," Samuels said.
