It is an issue that won’t go away. Nor is it likely to anytime soon.
Debate over the dichotomy of players’ preference for the Indian Premier League (IPL) and other such widespread domestic T20 franchise tournaments over commitment to the West Indies has sharply split public opinion.
It prompted the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to introduce a “West Indies first” policy just over a year ago to let players know where they, and it, stand; most recently, it has drawn opposite views from two senior members of the coaching staff, the head man Phil Simmons and his bowling consultant Sir Curtly Ambrose.
Simmons, just three months into his position after eight successful years in charge of Ireland, appeared to counter the WICB’s principle by stating that, as far as he was concerned, the door was open to IPL players previously unavailable for West Indies duties.
Although encouraged by the performance of a young team in sharing his inaugural series against England 1-1, he understandably wants to have all the best players on the selectors’ list, those from the IPL among them. It’s a view that has coincided with the struggles against the strong, uncompromising Australians in the current mini-series of two Tests.
Even if Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Keiron Pollard, Sunil Narine and others were keen to return, Simmons is realistic enough to appreciate that they wouldn’t automatically slip straight back into the Test team. The difference between the shortest format and the longest is as striking as that between the 100 metres and the marathon in another sport.
His aim is initially to get them back to lift standards in domestic cricket; all have played none or very little since the advent of the IPL. He must know that the vast disparity in pay is what lured them to overseas such T20 contracts in the first place; nothing has changed on that score. Even WICB’s increases for its contracted players are insignificant in comparison.
“Obviously everybody wants to see those guys playing Test cricket for the West Indies because they are certainly good enough to play that format,” Simmons told a Trinidad newspaper.
“I hope to sit down with them and discuss my, and the selectors’, vision for how we want West Indies to play Test cricket going forward and how they possibly fit into that,” he added. “I can’t rule anybody in or out of consideration until I do so.”
He is certain to encounter resistance from the WICB itself. The first task of its director of coaching, the Englishman Richard Pybus, was to present a comprehensive report in March 2014, recommending changes in the running of the game in the Caribbean.
“WICB to prioritise West Indies Cricket, domestic and international,” Pybus advised. “Eliminate participation of international players in other countries’ T20 competitions to prioritise the skills development necessary for West Indies to achieve their vision goals.”
The directors bought into it, especially in view of the formation of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) along the same lines as its Indian counterpart.
Ambrose echoes the stance.
‘First of all, I believe we should try our best to feature our strongest team,” Ambrose said while in England promoting his autobiography prior to the Australia series.
“Unfortunately, some of our top players are in the IPL at the moment. You can’t really stop someone, or you shouldn’t stop someone, from making decisions,” he argued. “They’ve got to decide if they want to play for the West Indies or go to the IPL. I know it is a lucrative thing (but) should we just allow these guys to come straight back into the team? For me, I think not.”
It is more likely that the majority of “these guys” – there were 10 West Indians in the 2015 IPL – aren’t interested in returning to West Indies cricket. With the exception of Gayle, all have retired from the Test and first-class game.
In addition to their pay packets, they value the treatment they receive from their franchises, the competition supplied by some of the finest players in the game and the adoration showered on them by India’s passionate fans in India. It is a combination they are not accorded back home.
Bravo noted the comments of Simmons and has hinted at an interest in returning to the West Indies T20 team; it is unlikely that he would be welcomed back.
He has already paid for his place in the ODI team for his role as captain and chief spokesman for the players who contentiously abandoned last year’s tour of India. And there are still long memories at board level who recall his answer to a question posed by a Hindustan Times interviewer three years ago.
Mumbai Indians or Trinidad and Tobago? he was asked. “Of course T&T. It’s my country. Mumbai Indians come second, T&T come first and the West Indies third,” he replied.
The surprise response to Simmons’ open door comment came from Gayle.
The powerful self-proclaimed “world boss” played the last of his 103 Tests last September against Bangladesh in the Caribbean; since then, he has missed nine Tests while battering helpless bowlers in the IPL and for Somerset in England’s T20 Blast and further enhancing his popularity with his cricket and his personality.
With scores of 92, 151 not out and 85 not out in three appearances for Somerset, Gayle amassed 328 runs for once out, from 170 balls and with a remarkable 29 sixes.
Even so, he intended to discuss his Test future with Simmons and, possibly, the WICB on his return for the upcoming T20 CPL in which he leads the Jamaica Tallawahs; significantly, the number he used on his shirt for Somerset was 333, his highest Test score.
It seemed repeated injuries had ended his 14 years in five-day Tests for the West Indies. Yet he told ESPNcricinfo recently that he would “love to play a few more international games” although he did concede that the travelling is “very hectic” for a 35-year-old.
“I just want to see if they are still interested,” Gayle revealed. “I am still interested so I’ll look forward to that and see how best it can work out.”
The West Indies next Test assignments are in Zimbabwe in July and August and Sri Lanka in October and November; three Tests follow in Australia over the Christmas and New Year period.
A fit and eager Gayle would make a difference to a team now without the experience of Shivnarine Chanderpaul, dropped for the current series against Australia after his rare slump in form; his contract with the Melbourne Renegades for next season’s Big Bash in Australia suggests he won’t be back at the top of the West Indies Test match order.
All the same, he supplied a flattering assessment of Test cricket.
“A Test match is fantastic,” he said. “It’s a test of character but the entertainment part of cricket is phenomenal. T20 has actually brought new cricket fans into the game, so we have to continue with this as well so that people who didn’t watch can eventually get to watch Test cricket”.
Not many of his IPL colleagues appear to share the view.
