West Indies national cricket team’s performances across all formats of the game took a significant blow in recent years and there seems to be no signs of improvement. They haven’t been able to maintain a great deal of consistency at a high level for a long time and inconsistent performances by key players affected the team as a whole. On top of that, with the proliferation of T20 leagues globally, Caribbean players have always shown their interest in taking part in various leagues, which goes to show that their priorities shifted towards franchise cricket rather than international commitments.
However, with their historic ODI series win over England recently, there is a glimmer of hope that the Caribbeans might as well be on the track to recovery. Meanwhile, in the latest development, Cricket West Indies (CWI) unveiled the contract list for the upcoming season (2023-24). The board has constantly been keeping a tab on the players’ performance in the previous season.
Nicholas Pooran, Jason Holder and Kyle Mayers snub West Indies central contracts
Based on the work rate and performance, the contracts have been offered to the players in the wake of recommendations from the West Indies’ selection panels and approval by the CWI Board of Directors. Surprisingly, West Indies’ marquee players such as Nicholas Pooran, Jason Holder and Kyle Mayers have turned down central contracts.
Needless to say, they have confirmed that they will mark their presence in all the Twenty20 Internationals, which keeps the trio in contention to feature in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024. West Indies Men’s Lead Selector Dr Desmond Haynes added that they are aiming to compete for the top spot when they host and give everything in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, which is scheduled to be held in the United States and West Indies.
“With a busy year of cricket ahead, in all three formats, we have held several detailed discussions with the two Head Coaches on the brand of cricket they want to play. We are very clear in the direction we want to go. The players who have been offered contracts are among those who we expect to feature, as we look to build towards challenging for the top spot when we host and compete in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 on home soil. We also have away Test Series in Australia and England – these are two major assignments whilst in the 50-over format we look to build a nucleus of players aimed towards the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2027,” Desmond Haynes was quoted as saying by the ICC website.
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West Indies players with Central contracts
Alick Athanaze, Kraigg Brathwaite, Keacy Carty, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Joshua Da Silva, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Gudakesh Motie, Rovman Powell, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales, and Romario Shepherd.