THE West Indies Players Association (WIPA)is questioning the selection process behind the regional team.
In the aftermath of the omission of three senior players from a 13-man West Indies squad for the first two Digicel One-Day Internationals against Pakistan, WIPA has voiced its disapproval of a new policy to expose young players to international cricket.
A new-look squad does not include a single player over the age of 30 and the selectors found no room for former captains Chris Gayle, 31, Ramnaresh Sarwan, 30, and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 36.
In a statement yesterday, WIPA said while it wanted to see players with potential incorporated into the team and blooded, it should not be at the expense of overall team performance or the obligation owed to the players to deal with them fairly and justly.
“While WIPA is clear that teams should be picked on performance, potential, playing conditions and preparedness, it is concerned that there may be an appearance that there were other unknown factors being taken into account. If so, all players should be aware of what those other factors are,” the statement said.
“In light of this, WIPA now hopes that there will be no impediment to the three senior players mentioned above or any other players seeking other options to earn a living or demonstrate their continued mastery of the game.”
In its statement, WIPA detailed the records Gayle, Sarwan and Chanderpaul have in all forms of the game.
Statistics show that Gayle has a Test batting average of 41.65, an ODI average of 39.06 and a Twenty20 International average of 32.47. Chanderpaul, another of the dropped senior players, has a Test batting average of 48.98, an ODI batting average of 41.60 and a Twenty20 International average of 20.17.
Sarwan has a Test batting average of 41.73, an ODI average of 43.20 and a Twenty20 International average of 22.92.
WIPA has also stressed the need for the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to maintain an independent selection committee free from interference and in accordance with Article VII (e) of the Memorandum of Understanding between WIPA and the WICB.
The article speaks to the integrity of the selection process and states inter alia that “in this regard however the WICB undertakes to ensure that the selection process will be done in a fair and transparent manner”.
WIPA said it had reasons to file a notice of dispute for breaches of this article for the 2009-2010 period by which several players have been affected and these are matters before arbitration.
