FROM the esteemed heights of captaining the West Indies team to the heartbreak of being left out of the World Cup set-up, as well as the squad currently in Ireland for a tri-nations series, all-rounder Rovman Powell is taking it all in stride.

Amidst that was the agonising time on the sideline due to a back injury, but now fit, the 25-year-old Jamaican is proactively plotting a return to international action.

He was booked to travel to Barbados yesterday where he is set to represent The University of the West Indies (UWI) Cave Hill in Twenty20, 50-over, and red-ball cricket.

“Not being able to make the West Indies World Cup team, I’m disappointed And I’m even more disappointed not to be included in the team to Ireland,” Powell told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.

“But in the midst of every little disappointment life goes on, and I’m putting things in place to ensure I wear the West Indies colours in very short order. If I was to be selected I would have been selected — it just wasn’t to be,” the middle order batsman said.

In the absence of regular captain Jason Holder, Powell led the West Indies One-Day International (ODI) team during the 1-2 loss on tour of Bangladesh late last year.

He represented Jamaica Scorpions in the regional four-day tournament, and though failing to ignite with the bat Powell was a successful medium pacer, utilising deceptive variation and swing to capture 17 wickets at an average of 13.76.

He sustained the injury at the tail end of the season in a match against eventual champions Guyana Jaguars.

While on the treatment table Powell missed England’s tour of the Caribbean earlier this year, but he has since recovered.

“I’m fully fit and back to my [physical] best. I’ve been doing some chiropractor work and some physiotherapy, so I’m good now.

“I’m going to Barbados to catch up on some personal training at the facility of Cave Hill and meanwhile, I’ll play some club cricket for them [UWI]. I’ll work in the facilities at Cave Hill to try to improve every aspect of my game,” Powell said, noting that the trip to Barbados is at his financial expense.

“It’s just to improve my cricket because I know how important it is. I think I’m still at the development stage and I’m trying to grasp certain things from the experience I’ve garnered from international cricket. I just want that when I start playing international cricket [again] people can see improvement.

In the past years I’ve used it (time at Cave Hill) as preparation for competitions and it has done wonders for me. So I decided this year that since I’m not in the World Cup squad I’ll spend time there and work on my cricket,” he told the Observer.

Powell has scored one century in 34 ODIs for the West Indies, averaging 23.92 and 81 with bat and ball, respectively.