West Indies players Nicholas Pooran, Jason Holder and Kyle Mayers have refused to be part of the board's central contract. However, these three players will be available for the team for all T20 International matches. The West Indies Cricket Board revealed this on Sunday, December 10. West Indies and America will host the T20 World Cup together in June, immediately after the Indian Premier League in 2024.
For the first time, the board has presented contracts for four players of the West Indies men's team. This includes left-arm spinner Gudakesh Moti, right-handed batsman Cassie Carty, left-handed batsman Tegnarayan Chanderpaul and all-rounder Alick Athanoz. The West Indies Women's team has offered first-time contracts to all-rounders Jada James and Sheneta Grimondko.
Chief selector Desmond Haynes told the board that West Indies have to play many matches this season in the cricket calendar. In view of this, we talked to both the coaches of the team (T-20/ODI and Test). The board has given contracts to the players keeping in mind the upcoming T-20 World Cup.
He further said, we also have Test series in Australia and England. Whereas for the ODI format, we want to form a new team keeping in mind the 2027 World Cup.
Andre Russell has been included in the West Indies T-20 team for the first time after the 2021 T-20 World Cup. However, they are not part of the central contract. The team has released a 15-man squad, which includes Russell, to face England in next week's five-match series in the Caribbean.
There has been a big decline in the West Indies cricket team in the last 2-3 years. The team was unable to qualify for the 2022 T20 World Cup and 2023 ODI World Cup. At the same time, the team's performance in Test cricket was also not special.
Sports such as athletics, basketball and football attracted youth on the Caribbean Islands. Due to this, the number of cricket players reduced. Jamaica's Usain Bolt is the biggest example of this.
West Indies Cricket Board could not make its players financially strong. In 2016, the players rebelled against the board itself. The players reached India at their own expense to play the T20 World Cup and also won the title.
Due to less money, players started giving priority to franchise cricket. The board also did not give a chance to its players in the team. Due to which players like Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shimron Hetmyer were not a part of the team despite being available.
There is still no doubt about the talent of the players, but there is a lack of a captain to unite the players. The West Indies Board is not even able to manage its players.
The board is not paying much attention to preparing young players. This will take a long time for the team to recover in traditional formats like Test and ODI.
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