FORMER TT Red Force and West Indies cricket team manager Omar Khan says the current Cricket West Indies (CWI) administration must find a balance with the Windies players to ensure the best possible teams are represented across the three formats.
Last week, CWI announced a 15-man squad to tour Australia for two Test matches from January 17 to 29. As many as seven uncapped players were picked in the squad, with Kyle Mayers, Shai Hope and former West Indies captain Jason Holder all unavailable for the series. TT Red Force captain Darren Bravo rejected CWI's call-up as he is taking a break from the game. CWI lead selector Desmond Haynes said Hope wanted to play more red-ball cricket before returning to the Test arena after a two-year absence. With the 2024 International Cricket Council (ICC) Twenty/20 World Cup six months away, both Holder and Mayers pointed to a preference for the T20 format and opted against the Australia Tests.
"I think this is a communication problem we need to resolve. At the end of the day, you look at the other Test-playing nations and they do not have issues like these," Khan told Newsday, pointing to ongoing Test series between India and South Africa, and Australia and Pakistan.
"All of these guys are also T20 players, but they are willing to represent their country in Test cricket too. You have to work out a balance and the (CWI) board has to be able to work out that balance."
Samuel Badree, a two-time T20 World Cup winner with the West Indies, also said CWI needed to address the issue expeditiously.
"It is not the first time players have prioritised T20 cricket ahead of Tests. This is something CWI has dealt with in the past and should expect more of it happening given the proliferation of T20 leagues," Badree said.
"They need to either give more lucrative contracts to secure (the players') services, or perhaps even go the way of England and give multi-year contracts, or unearth more talent to fill the gaps that will no doubt be created."
Khan had two separate stints as the TT Red Force manager from 2003-2007 and 2010-2013, in addition to a mentorship role for the 2023 Regional Super50 tournament. In his second stint with the Red Force, the team won a hat-trick of regional T20 titles from 2011 to 2013. The 2013 Red Force team included T20 stars such as Badree, Sunil Narine and former Windies captains Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard. Khan says he understands the heavy pull of T20 leagues around the world, but he also maintains West Indies should be the main priority for the players.
"I understand T20 cricket is where the money is and everybody wants to make money because it is their living. But at the end of the day, they have got to have an appreciation of where they came from. Players came from the West Indies and they represented their countries and then West Indies and that is how they got the recognition to be selected for T20 teams and in T20 franchises around the world.
"It is a communication (issue) and something the board needs to work on to bridge that gap - in t
