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Hollis left discouraged after squad axe

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Dennico Hollis

Dennico Hollis has broken silence over his latest national cricket team snub.Despite boasting one of the best attendance records in training and displaying a hard work ethic the 23-year-old Bailey’s Bay all-rounder was overlooked for selection to Bermuda’s ICC World Twenty20 qualifying squad that will compete in Dubai next month.And this doesn’t sit well with Hollis who feels he did more than enough to earn a place in the team.“I did what I needed to do to secure my spot in the team but came up with the short end of the stick,” he said. “Plain and simple the coach (David Moore) said what he expected from the players and I did what was asked of me.“He asked for commitment to training and a hard work ethic and that’s what I pretty much gave.”It is understood that in order to be considered for team selection players were required to attend at least 80 percent of the scheduled training sessions. Hollis attended around 90 percent of the training sessions where he gave his full commitment.“This is really discouraging and I feel like I am being used because the cricket board know what my work ethic is like,” he said. “I am not asking to be given a spot because I put my work in and tried to earn a spot like everybody else.“I’m not asking for nothing to be handed to me because that’s not the type of player I am. I have put in a lot of work and dedication to the squad that I love most and once again I get the same result.”It is alleged that some players who have been chosen to travel to Dubai did not attend the minimum amount of training sessions to be considered for team selection.However, Hollis declined to speak at length on the attendance records of others.“Whatever my team-mates did as far as not showing up for training is on them,” he said. “I just did what I had to.”There were also some players who are currently nursing injuries that were chosen ahead of a fully fit Hollis.The dedicated cricketer said he was so upset at being overlooked for selection that he had considered quitting the national programme before deciding best to stick it out.“It’s really discouraging but I am not going to retire,” he said. “I just need time to think and reflect on what can I do to secure a spot in the team. I want to continue on at the national level and at the end of the day I am still going to support whatever team they send down there (to Dubai).”Bermuda’s senior national squad will compete in ICC World Twenty20 qualifiers in Dubai March 13-24.Only two of the 16 ICC Associate/Affiliate countries will advance to September’s ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka.Bermuda, who will again be led by former English County player David Hemp, have been pitted in Group A along with Afghanistan, Canada, Denmark, Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea, Netherlands and Nepal.The Island will kick off their qualifying bid against the Danes March 13 at the ICC Global Cricket Academy Oval.

Discouraged: Bailey?s Bay all-rounder Dennico Hollis.