As almost everyone connected with the sport in even the remotest manner would have heard by now, West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard has announced his immediate retirement from international cricket. Pollard’s April 20th announcement, which would have come as a major surprise to most, has now created some very interesting possibilities for the structure of West Indies’ white-ball cricket teams in the immediate future.
At the time of his resignation, Pollard was, of course, the incumbent West Indies white-ball captain, having led the team in both formats since his October 2019 appointment as Jason Holder’s replacement. During his 15-year international career, Pollard established himself as a legendary trailblazer for West Indies’ white-ball cricket. He became the first-ever player to represent the West Indies in 100 T20I matches and also donned the maroon colors in a total of 123 ODI matches.
In the course of his West Indies ODI career, Pollard scored 2706 runs and captured 55 wickets. In T20I matches he tallied 1569 runs at an outstanding overall strike rate of 135.14. He also snared 42 wickets with his handy medium-pace.
Just over a year ago, in March 2021, Pollard became one of only four players to have ever struck six sixes in a single over. Sri Lanka’s Akila Dananjaya was the hapless victim of Pollard’s record book’s inclusion assault.
Despite his having had such a relatively outstanding international career the reactions to Pollard’s announced retirement, especially within West Indies cricketing circles, have been somewhat ambiguous. Facebook’s Caribbean cricket related pages were flooded with comments on his retirement in the hours and days immediately following his announcement. Some of the Facebook comments were highly complimentary of Pollard’s contribution to West Indies cricket. Others much less so.
The ongoing social media debates as to which side of the coin, favorable or unfavorable, any assessment of Pollard’s international career should rightfully fall would have been fueled by his most recent unflattering returns as a West Indies T20 batsman. As indicated in my previous article, Pollard’s last 15 T20I innings for the West Indies produced zero half-centuries and eight scores of fewer than 10.
Pollard’s less than impressive final batting averages in either form of white-ball international cricket, 26.01 in ODIs and 25.39 in T20Is may also have given understandable cause for the ensuing debates over the comparative value of his contributions as a West Indies player. What’s now indisputable, however, is the outstanding contribution Pollard made as a mentor to his much younger and less experienced charges during his tenure as the West Indies’ white-ball captain. Cricket West Indies website now bears testimony to the very high esteem in which Pollard was held by younger members of the West Indies teams he captained.
“Father figure” was the description most often used for Pollard by those interviewed. A description which until now has only ever before been attributed to two former West Indies captains, the late Sir Frank Worrell and more recently the now Sir Clive Lloyd.
In timing his announcement as he did, just a month after he’d led his team to an exciting T20 series win against England at home, but several months before the West Indies begins its quest for glory at the format’s Australia-hosted World Cup later this year, Pollard may have given Caribbean cricket his greatest gift ever. It was certainly most unselfish of him to have announced his retirement when he did.
The timing of Pollard’s announcement has now presented West Indies Lead Selector Desmond Haynes and the other members of his Panel, Co-Selector Ramnaresh Sarwan and Head Coach Phil Simmons, with sufficient time to identify his most suitable replacement as white-ball captain. Haynes and Co’s first major deliberation in that regard will be as to whether there should be a solitary choice or separate captains for the West Indies respective T20 and ODI teams.
The expressed preference by the majority of international teams, including the West Indies in terms of both Pollard and his immediate predecessor Jason Holder, has been that of a solitary captain. Should Haynes and Co decide to continue that trend the West Indies’ current T20I vice-captain, his fellow Trinidadian Nicholas Pooran, would appear to be the most obvious and very best choice to step into Pollard’s now abandoned shoes as West Indies white-ball captain.
In the few opportunities he’s had at performing the role, occasioned as they have been by injuries to Pollard, Pooran has acquitted himself fairly well. So much so that months before Pollard’s actual announcement many voices within Caribbean cricket circles had already been clamoring for Pooran to be appointed captain.
It will now, therefore, be very interesting to see whether Pooran does indeed secure the appointment as West Indies captain in both white-ball formats. It will also be just as interesting to see exactly who Haynes & Company will also subsequently identify as the vice-captain(s) of the respective T20 and ODI teams.
There are those within Caribbean cricket circles, myself included, who feel that Haynes & Company would do well to appoint Guyana’s Shimron Hetmeyer as the vice-captain for both the West Indies T20I and ODI teams. Providing of course that he, Hetmeyer, can meet the required fitness standards in a manner sufficient as to allow his selection to the respective teams, which given his most obvious prodigious talents should otherwise become automatic.
Pollard’s retirement will also now require of Haynes & Company their identification of a suitable replacement for the vital number five slot in the West Indies white-ball batting order.
Particularly in the shorter T20 format Pollard’s allrounder capabilities, both as a power-hitter as well as a quite handy medium-pacer, made him a near-perfect occupant for that position.
His retirement generated absence will now create some most enticing opportunities for potential candidates to advance their respective claims as his most suitable replacement. Luckily for Haynes & Company, and again with deserving kudos to Pollard for his exemplary retirement announcement timing, there will now be ample match availability opportunities for all those qualified to do so.
In that regard, the West Indies’ next international white-ball cricket engagement will be its forthcoming May 30th – June 9th 3 ODIs Tour to Holland. The significance of which will be the associated opportunity for both teams to collect much-needed points towards their respective qualifications for next year’s 2023 ICC World Cup.
Following the Holland Tour, the West Indies will also be hosts to Bangladesh, India and New Zealand in white-ball series before their departure to Australia to participate in this year’s T20 World Cup. Plenty of time, therefore, for Haynes & Co to make all the relevant decisions and loads of opportunities for the likely contenders to stake their respective selection claims.
While those of us on the sidelines now watch and wait for events to unfold as they will, we should all in the interim express our most sincere appreciation to Kieron Pollard for his provided service to West Indies cricket. Cheers to you Polly for your outstanding career.
About The Writer:
Guyana-born, Toronto-based, Tony McWatt is the Publisher of both the WI Wickets and Wickets monthly online cricket magazines that are respectively targeted toward Caribbean and Canadian readers. He is also the only son of the former Guyana and West Indies wicket-keeper batsman the late Clifford “Baby Boy” McWatt.
