Joey Carew - file

port-of-spain, trinidad, cmc

Former West Indies batsman and chairman of selectors, Michael 'Joey' Carew, believes that the move to put Dwayne Bravo as West Indies vice-captain, and even to lead the side, is a handicap to the player's development.

Carew believes at this stage of his career, Bravo should be concentrating on improving his game - which he thinks has deteriorated.

"I am not saying that he is too young for the position though," he said.

"What I am saying is that to give him this kind of responsibility at this stage of his career will serve more as a handicap rather than an enhancement.

"I would like to see him just concentrating on bowling, batting, and fielding right now, not taking on other players' worries."

Ganga as captain

Carew indicated his choice for the position of vice-captain would have been Bravo's compatriot, national captain and West Indies opener Daren Ganga.

"One year ago, when I was a selector, we had sat down and looked at succession," he said.

"We brought in Ramnaresh Sarwan as vice-captain to Brian Lara. We told ourselves that when Brian moves on, Sarwan would take up the position as captain.

"At that point in time, I had not given my vote to Sarwan, but I had given my vote to Daren Ganga. I thought that he was more successful as a regional captain and would have proven to be a better ambassador of the West Indies than Sarwan.

"Sarwan, however, was made captain and he was given Ganga as vice-captain for the tour of England. Sarwan got injured and Ganga stepped up to the plate and became captain.

"Although he failed with the bat, I have not heard anything adverse about his captaincy for the matches he took charge of in England. Now, we go to South Africa and Ganga is now just an ordinary player on the team.

"So when you look at it, for two reasons I don't like the move to have Bravo as vice-captain. One is that he needs to concentrate on his game and the other is for continuity."

West Indies face South Africa in two Twenty20 Internationals, three Tests, and five one-day Internationals.