FORMER West Indies captain and two-time ICC World T20 champion, Daren Sammy, has praised Cricket West Indies (CWI) for finally “coming to their senses” with the impending implementation of revised guidelines to enable the participation of senior players in the Test and ODI formats.
Under previous director, Richard Pybus, the CWI had implemented regulations that required all players wishing to represent West Indies to take part in regional competitions. The move was in part aimed at strengthening the level of the regional play and also developing youth players.
The regulations, however, also isolated the team’s senior players with the more experienced members of the team opting to take part in various lucrative T20 leagues around the world which often clashed with the regional tournaments. The result was a number of embarrassing losses for inexperienced West Indies squads.
The new CEO, Johnny Grave, and director of cricket, Jimmy Adams, have, however, now sought to amend the regulations. It is believed that, following meetings with various stakeholders, players considered ODI specialists will now be offered special contracts that allow them to represent the team without taking part in the regional tournaments. Sammy believes the move is a step in the right direction.
“Obviously, previous Director of Cricket, Pybus (Richard) came with a structure for the last three or four years, now he has left, it didn’t take a year of Jimmy (Adams) and Johnny (Grave) being there for them to review same structure that has kept all of us out of West Indies cricket,” Sammy told the Indian publication, First Post.
“But I guess it’s a step in the right direction. Whether it’s for the right reasons, time alone will tell,” he added. “We didn’t qualify for Champion’s Trophy, now we stand a better chance going into the 2019 World Cup qualification. It’s good that they came to their senses, now let’s see what happens when England limited overs tour comes and what squad selectors will pick.”