The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is firm on its stance of ignoring Sunil Narine, who preferred to play the IPL final instead of returning for the practice games in West Indies for the Test recall.
Anil Roberts
Responding to Anil Roberts, the Trinidad and Tobago’s sports minister’s second letter, the WICB president Dave Cameron said, “We stand by the processes where players are selected to represent the the region in various formats of the game. A few months ago the Board of Directors, West Indies Players Association and Territorial Boards agreed a way forward regarding our management of the sportwith the aim of getting us back to number one.
“We arrived at a consensus which is transparent and places the players as priority as we seek to grow the game. We are cognizant of the emotions which run.”
In his letter, a copy of which we seen, he said, “The current policy as it stands would suggest that a West Indian player may have to do what is tantamount to abandoning his franchise team at its most critical hour. What signal is sent if Sunil Narine had simply left his team just before a major final being streamed across the globe? What would that say about the commitment and reliability of our players? How would this have affected his, and indeed other West Indian cricketers, chances of being drafted for future franchise tournaments and campaigns?
“Further, as a region, we should be looking to build relationships. His franchise team certainly seemed to be willing to do what was necessary to assist him in getting to the West Indies training camp in the fastest possible time, following the IPL Final.
Sunil Narine
“Again, I am requesting that due consideration be given to the arguments I presented in earlier correspondence and that the WICB work towards selecting the best possible team for the home series versus New Zealand. We have here a young cricketer fresh off of a win in a franchise final that was seen by millions across the globe, and by all accounts a truly epic battle. I truly hope that you and your board will be able to come to some kind of decision before the start of the home series and that all consideration is given to the professional futures of West Indian players, the team and West Indies cricket itself”.
The sports minister, in his earlier letter, had also given the example of a New Zealand player.
“It must be noted at this point that Mr. Brendon McCullum of New Zealand who participated in the play off for Chennai Super Kings has been selected to play for New Zealand in an away series while being afforded the opportunity to participate fully in the IPL.”
Bipin Dani
He has toured UAE, Sri Lanka, Morocco and Malaysia, to name a few, and contributes to a large number of newspapers in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
His twitter bio reads: Eat cricket stories, drink cricket stories, sleep cricket stories.
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