Nicholas Pooran, Fabian Allen and Oshane Thomas have been awarded Cricket West Indies' (CWI) central contracts for the 2019-2020 season for the first time after their impressive show in West Indies’ dismal World Cup 2019 campaign in England and Wales.
The CWI has announced the list of central contracted players on Tuesday, 9th July which has a multi-talented group of players. The list of contracts is divided into three parts – all-format, red-ball, and white-ball contracts. Darren Bravo, Jason Holder, Shimron Hetmyer, Keemo Paul, Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph, and Kemar Roach have all-format contracts which will run from July 1, 2019, to June 30 next year.
Pooran, who first hogged the limelight with a brilliant 143 in the U-19 World Cup, impressed one and all with his brilliant batting, especially his 103-ball 118 knock against Sri Lanka at World Cup 2019, ending up as West Indies' top run-getter. Allen grabbed the eyeballs in the Global T20 Canada last year, finishing the tournament with a strike-rate of over 180, while Thomas has scalps in the 50-over format.
Meanwhile, a total number of 15 women have also been awarded central contracts for the 2019-20 season, including veteran all-rounder Stacy Ann-King, left-hander Kycia Knight, and newcomers Shabika Gajnabi, Shawnisha Hector, Chinelle Henry, Natasha McLean, and Karishma Ramharack.
Robert Haynes, interim chairman of the CWI Selection Panel, stated, “We believe the 2019-20 contract list provides us with a multi-talented group of players who can represent West Indies men and women across all formats over the contract period. We believe the mix of players selected are important for the development of our teams going forward and we have looked to award contracts to players who have shown commitment and performance during the past year.”
While Jimmy Adams, the CWI director of cricket, said, “To assist in our drive towards a new fitness and conditioning culture, the CWI board of directors has approved our recommendation that the award of all new West Indies men's contracts this year will be conditional on each player achieving a minimum standard of fitness. This new policy will also be introduced to all men's regional franchise contracts and West Indies Women's contracts next year for the 2020-21 season.”
Noteworthy, the CWI policy allows up to 22 contracts to be offered each contract year with the remaining names would be announced throughout the year while it was for the only third time when the board award central contracts to the men's team under three different categories.
Check out here CWI men's contracts 2019-20:
All-format - Alzarri Joseph, Keemo Paul, Kemar Roach, Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Shai Hope
Red-ball- Shane Dowrich, Shannon Gabriel, Jomel Warrican, Kraigg Brathwaite, John Campbell, Roston Chase
White-ball -Sheldon Cottrell, Nicholas Pooran, Rovman Powell, Oshane Thomas, Fabian Allen, Carlos Brathwaite
CWI women's contracts 2019-2020:
Shemaine Campbelle, Shamilia Connell, Deandra Dottin, Afy Fletcher, Hayley Matthews, Chedean Nation, Shakera Selman, Stafanie Taylor, Shabika Gajnabi, Shawnisha Hector, Chinelle Henry, Stacy-Ann King, Kycia Knight, Natasha McLean, Karishma Ramharack
(With IANS Inputs)
