Unrest in the ranks of cricketers is not limited to Australia. The West Indies cricket board resorted to an agreement with the players’ union for what is being called a “temporary amnesty” so that certain players, namely Chris Gayle, Sunil Narine and others could participate in ODIs against the Black Caps when the West Indies team tours New Zealand in November.
Kiwi mothers better lock up your daughters.
Please accept our abject apologies for our weak paraphrase of a Dire Straits lyric.
The labour dispute between the West Indies players and the governing board has been going on for several years. Are you listening CA and ACA?
Just as the Australian A Squad abandoned a tour in South Africa, the Windies did likewise to India right in the midst of a 2017 tour. Just again once again, it was a pay issue that caused the ruckus.
Another complicating factor is that Cricket West Indies (CWI) will only select players for international play who participate in the same format on the domestic level. That policy has resulted in many of the best West Indies cricketers being absent from the ODI side, the outcome of skipping the local 50-over tournament to chase the lucrative money offered by Twenty20 leagues.
It is hard to win, one would be inclined to say, ODIs when your best players are prohibited from taking part.
In part, the statement issued by CWI reads, “part of a wider strategy to be more inclusive and to improve player relations aimed at re-engaging all players within our system so that they can perform at their best for the Windies teams.”
What it amounts to is that some of the players currently on the outside looking in would need to play domestic 50-over matches, possibly to the detriment of their Twenty20 obligations.
Given the sorry state of the Windies in ODI play, it is high time they did something to bring stray talent back into the fold.