Last Wednesday, Cricket West Indies (CWI) released the names of the 18 players who have been confirmed for international retainer contracts for the 2021 – 2022 season, which will run from 1st July 2021 to 30th June 2022. The anxiously awaited list, which is four players less than the previous year’s, has a few noticeable omissions including Guyanese middle-order batsman, Shimron Hetmyer and Barbadian all-rounder Roston Chase.
The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) and the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) are both very peeved at the fact that four Guyanese players, namely, Hetmyer, Keemo Paul, Romario Shepherd and Veerasammy Permaul were not offered retainer contracts. The GCB, in a press release last Friday, stated that it had written to CWI expressing that it was not aware nor informed of the criteria used for the award of the contracts nor the reasons the four named players were excluded. It added that it would fully investigate the omission of the four players by CWI as it was a matter of extreme concern to the GCB and to the Guyanese public.
The BCB statement, released earlier, was equally narrow minded: “It is simply shocking that our country which has dominated the game at the four-day level over the last few years cannot have a single player on the list.” It also requested CWI to explain the non-selection of Berbicians Hetmyer, Permaul and Shepherd.
The statements from the GCB and the BCB are only not disconcerting, but actually smack of insularity. More so, they are irresponsible and likely a source of embarrassment to one of our own, Roger Harper, the Chairman of the Selectors, whose committee was involved in the compilation of the retainer contracts list.
When the list was released, the CWI quite clearly stated, “The evaluation period for the 2021-22 contracts covered performances and statistics from April 1, 2020 to April 1, 2021 (this was also supported by statistics from the previous 2019-2020 evaluation period). This allows for all players to be appraised immediately after the evaluation period and provides a notice period before new contracts on the July 1, 2021.”
It added, “All players who are no longer on international retainer contracts [11 in total, including Hetmyer, Paul and Shepherd] are offered an A* grade Regional Franchise Contract for the following year.” The CWI further revealed that it was retaining 108 male players on contracts each year as part of the professional cricket system and that the six regional franchises were due to award 15 contracts, with the Professional Franchise Player Draft due to take place on 25th May.
CWI Director of Cricket, former West Indies Captain, Jimmy Adams and Harper have been very explicit in their explanations to the media about the selection process and the criteria used to determine who were awarded contracts. Adams explained that in some scenarios, a weighted average over a two-year period was used so as to compensate for a dramatic decline in performance by a player over the one-year eligibility period. Harper noted that performance remained the basis on which contracts were issued and urged West Indies players to focus on consistency in order to boost their numbers. He added that the performance standard is a batting average of 30 and above in both Tests and One Day Internationals, while in T20Is, there is a formula which combines batting averages and strike rate to bring a minimum figure of 150.
“For you to qualify really for your stats to be assessed and evaluated, you must play what we call the minimum required amount of games which is 50 per cent of the games during that evaluation period,” Harper pointed out.
What more does the GCB and the BCB want to know? Or are their statements meant to coddle these players who lost their contracts through their own inconsistency at the highest level or failed to meet the minimum standards of fitness required by CWI? The 11 players who lost their international retainer contracts have no one to blame but themselves.
Although CWI has not disclosed what the contracts are worth, an article in last Wednesday’s edition of the Jamaica Gleaner stated, “… up until three years ago an all-formats deal was worth between US$150,000 and US$200,000, while a red ball [Test] contract worth US$100,000 to $140,000 and a white ball [ODI/T20] contract, US$80,000 to US$120,000.” These are substantial sums of money, and in these tight economic COVID-19 times, we cannot expect CWI to be tossing contracts around willy-nilly.
Jason Holder, former West Indies Captain, is the only player to be offered an all-format contract, while new captain, Kraigg Brathwaite deservedly inks a red ball contract after missing out the last time due to a lack of form. Eight new players – including the recent standouts, Kyle Mayers, Nkrumah Bonner and Joshua Da Silva – have earned their first international retainer contracts.
The revival of West Indian cricket can only continue if the wheat is consistently separated from the chaff. Gone are the prima donna days when contracts were awarded on names and reputations.
As Harper quite clearly enunciated, “I think going forward as a culture, if we want to see our team progress, if we want to see our team compete with the best in the world, we have to be more conscious of the fact that we have to earn our stripes, and we have to perform consistently.”
Those who perform at the highest level on a consistent basis will be rewarded with retainer contracts. The standards of performance have been declared.
