‘T20 leagues remain players’ choice’
Leading West Indian cricketers will prefer to play in lucrative Twenty20 tournaments around the world instead of representing the Caribbean side under the current administration, former captain Darren Sammy has said.
Sammy’s comments come just before India start their tour of the Windies from Friday.
Players such as Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo have long been embroiled in contractual disputes with the board and the team even abandoned a tour of India midway through the 2014 series over a payment structure row.
Cricket West Indies (CWI) only select players for their international sides if they feature in domestic competitions, leading to many high-profile absentees who ply their trade in overseas Twenty20 leagues.
“I can’t tell a player not to play in a league when it could make them financially stable to look after their family,” Sammy, who led West Indies to two World Twenty20 titles, told BBC Radio Five Live.
West Indies have had little success outside the shortest format and missed out on qualification for the recent Champions Trophy, played among the top eight 50-over sides of the world.
They are ranked ninth in oneday internationals and one place higher in the test format.
Sammy tore into his home governing body immediately after guiding the side to their second World T20 title in India last year, saying the players “felt disrespected by the board coming into the tournament”.
The 33-year-old has since missed out on selection for the West Indies.
“The way we structure our cricket, we’re not going anywhere,” said Sammy, who has played 38 Tests and 126 ODIs.
“I’m very scared we will be relegated to be playing against Ireland and Scotland. It’s very sad for us.
“If you really have West Indies cricket at heart you will have the right players for all the formats playing and helping you get to tournaments.”
CWI said it was working with stakeholders to resolve the issue and was focussed on direct qualification for the 2019 50-over World Cup in England and Wales.
“Regarding player eligibility, since the July 2016 meeting in Fort Lauderdale, there has been ongoing meetings with the players in large and small groups, and we feel we are closer to a resolution,” the BBC quoted a statement from the CWI as saying. MohAmmed ShAmi: Roston ChAse: Faf du Plessis is optimistic the creation of a new Twenty20 Global League in South Africa will help prevent the country’s top cricketers leaving in search of greater financial opportunities.
The combination of a relatively weak economy and the lure of the English county game has seen a number of Proteas cricketers all call time on their international careers.
South Africa has a trade agreement with the European Union which means players in England are regarded as ‘home’ selections under the Kolpak rule.
The likes of Kyle Abbott, Rilee Rossouw, Dane Vilas, David Wiese, Simon Harmer, Hardus Viljoen and Stiaan van Zyl have all opted to play county cricket rather than continue to represent South Africa, sparking fears of a mass exodus.
While financial security has been the often cited reason, there have been concerns transformation targets designed to correct the legacy of apartheid, when non-white players were barred from representing South Africa, could have played a part too.
But Test and Twenty20 captain du Plessis, who played for Lancashire under the Kolpak rule and has appeared in Twenty20 leagues around the world, said he hoped the new tournament would help provide opportunities currently only available outside of South Africa.
“I spoke about it when the Kolpak thing started happening in South Africa -- it was probably important that South Africa looked at different ways to try and keep players in the country,” explained du Plessis at the eightteam Global League’s launch on Monday.
“I think this is a huge step towards that,” the 32-year-old batsman added.
“Players don’t have to look outside, from an opportunity point of view and from a financial point of view -- they don’t need to go overseas. “This is going to be really important to keeping most of the players in the country.”
The November-December time frame will also mean South Africa’s leading players are available for the whole of a domestic Twenty20 competition. “We’ve always come back from long tours and there was a lot of important cricket coming up so we haven’t always been around to play as much domestic cricket as was needed,” said du Plessis.