Sunil Narine claims to be mocked by Trinidad official

West Indies off-spinner Sunil Narine has claimed that he had been mocked by a Trinidad official for ‘pelting’. In an email to National League Representatives (NLR), Narine requested for an independent probe into an email he had received from the Trinidad & Tobago Cricket board (TTBB) was a mock against his ‘pelting’.

Sunil Narine had been reported for suspect bowling action and had been subsequently banned from international cricket from the 29th of November. He had also undergone a biometric test at the ICC recognized unit at Loughborough University after being reported for a suspect action during the third ODI of West Indies’ tour of Sri Lanka earlier that month.

In a letter to the six-membered NLR team, Narine singled out Azim Bassarath, the president of the TTCB and said that an email had been sent on the same day he was banned by the ICC.

“If indeed the letter came from Mr Bassarath and I have to stress the ‘if’ right now, it seems that he must have long believed that my bowling action was illegal,” Narine wrote.

“There was such venom and almost joy in my being suspended that was evident in the email which said, “Let him start to Bowl !!!!!! He was not turning much in d first place!!!!! Straight ball and faster one all the time. !!!! PELTING !!!!!!!”

Azim Bassarath however, strongly denied these charges put forth by Narine. Bassarath also stated that he would take legal action against Narine should the local media be exposed to any of the content shared by Narine.

Narine has also said that he received another mail from TTCB CEO and former West Indies player Sooraj Ragoonath. The mail contained an offer for Narine to participate in the Nagico Super 50, the regional ODI tournament in which he had been the leading wicket-taker last year.

Ragoonath however, rescinded the offer following Narine’s ban for illegal action, stating that “any person who is debarred by the ICC” would not be eligible to play.

“It was a time of extreme stress for me and I was grateful when I received an email from Suruj Ragoonath, the CEO of the Trinidad & Tobago Cricket Board, which contained the promise to provide me ‘with all the necessary support’ and invited me to a meeting to discuss how the TTCB could assist me and to get an idea of the support I would require,” Narine wrote.

Narine concluded, “Even though I seem to have been denied natural justice by the writer of the email which accused me of “pelting”, I believe that an independent investigation should be undertaken to determine, if it was not Mr Bassarath himself, who indeed was the person who sent the Emails using Mr Bassarath’s known and familiar email address as well as Mr Baldath Mahabir.”