Windies cricketers no longer bound by domestic cricket

WEST INDIES players can now be selected to play in any format, even if they do not play in the corresponding domestic format.

Previously, it was not so, as players who would want to play Test cricket would have to play in the regional four-day, while those who wanted to be available for selection in One-Day International cricket teams had to play in the Super50, and those who hoped for T20I selection had to play in the Caribbean Premier League.

According to Miles Bascombe, Cricket West Indies’ director of cricket, the change has been sparked by the increasing number of obligations on cricketers who ply their trade in the various franchise leagues around the world.

Players choosing to play in high-paying franchise leagues around the world has negatively impacted West Indies cricket with much of its talent becoming unavailable because those players are not available to play in the domestic competitions.

“We have England (tour to the Caribbean) running into the (Regional) Super 50 and then overlapping with the Bangladesh series. It’s very possible that players who play in multiple formats may not be able to participate in Super 50,” said Bascombe in an interview with The Guardian newspaper in Trinidad and Tobago.

Bascombe believes the hectic schedule of cricketers makes the rule unfair.

The old policy, he said, “could not stand up to the current intensity of cricket schedules”.

The result of the change means players who would like to play in other formats of the game for the West Indies would need to declare themselves available for selection in those formats.

Still, there are those that urge caution when considering players who haven’t played the format of cricket they are being selected for in their domestic competitions.

Also speaking with The Guardian, former T&T cricketer and cricket analyst Andre Lawrence, pointed to examples like Nicholas Pooran as being worthy of more consideration than just the policy’s fairness.

“... what sort of red-ball cricket has he played? How often has he played? When last he played that sort of format? Are they fit enough to play over a five-day Test?”

According to Lawrence, talent alone is not good enough, because the longer version of the game requires specific training, as well as different types of mentality, which doesn’t just happen.