With less than two months to go for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, Cricket West Indies President Ricky Skerritt has made it clear that the Caribbean team will enter into the mega event with their strongest possible squad.
West Indies have made a lot of improvement since their India trip in October last year. Playing with some of their marquee players, Windies recently drew their five-match ODI series 2-2 against the No.1 ranked England at home. No wonder, cricket fans and experts are now considering the two-time World Champions as one of the favourites for the quadrennial tournament.
“In the last two weeks, one of the most critical points that have been embedded as a selection policy is that "If a player can still get selected for the team, they must be considered". There must be no reason for non-consideration other than cricket or medical or physical health. No administrative issues, politics or petty emotional situations must prohibit or prevent players from being considered for selection,” Skerritt told Cricbuzz.
Asked if West Indies will field their strongest possible squad in the World Cup, he added: “Absolutely and that's a policy decision which was made even before we got into office. But it became effective immediately on us getting into office as we wanted it to be cemented before the World Cup. The last 10-11 days since the election, we've been bringing in changes in terms of personnel and policies to make sure that we can reach out to everybody who wants to play for West Indies.”
“The people responsible for selecting, managing and leading the squad to the World Cup have been reaching out to players who may be interested, to let them know that the policy has changed and to be clear whether they are available or not, so that when the group gets together next week to make their final decision on the squad, they have as wide a slate to choose from as possible,” the CWI President continued.
Meanwhile, the likes of Chris Gayle, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine are doing exceptionally well in the ongoing Indian Premier League. It will be interesting to see whether the selection committee takes into account their IPL performances while picking Windies’ World Cup 2019 squad.
The World Cup starts on May 30 with South Africa taking on hosts England, while West Indies begin their campaign a day later against Pakistan at Trent Bridge. The 10-team marquee event will follow the 1992 World Cup format that saw all sides face each other before the top four moved into the knock-outs.
