Simmons calls for eligibility rule revision

West Indies coach Phil Simmons has called on the West Indies Cricket Board to review its policy on player availabilty ahead of the one-day international tri-series with Australia and South Africa in June.

The WICB's current policy prevents players who don't make themselves available for domestic competitions from being eligible for international selection, which has left the Windies' Test and ODI sides shorn of some of their best talent in recent years.

Some of the best players from the region, including the likes of Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Lendl Simmons, Andre Russell and Samuel Badree, returned to the fold to lead them to a stunning victory in the ICC World T20 final earlier this month.

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But unless the WICB changes its current stance, those stars won't be available for the June tri-series having missed the domestic Super50 tournament in January, with many players competing in the KFC Big Bash League instead.

Simmons, who was suspended by the Board in September last year for publically questioning the make-up of the ODI squad, said the Windies would offer a stern test for the Australians and the Proteas in June if the WICB changed its policy.

"There has been talk already that players who did not come back and play in the Super50 won't be selected (for ODI cricket)," the coach told ESPNCricinfo.

"But you are talking about seven or eight of the best players in the world.

"If you are not going to select them, then the other two teams coming into this tri-series are going to be smiling, because the challenge of playing against West Indies at home without Gayle, (Darren) Sammy, Russell, Bravo, Simmons seems easier.

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"We have seen what all of them can do in the World T20 and we have seen what they can do in 50-over cricket.

"In order for us to not be scrambling to qualify for the next World Cup, we need to be winning and moving up the table.

" ... so going forward perhaps that is another area we can review."

Simmons added that a change in policy would allow West Indian cricket to thrive once at all levels, including Test cricket.

"Let us say we have the 16 players who just won the T20 World Cup, along with Dwayne Smith, Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, and so on, who were not there," he said.

"So we have about 20 international limited-overs players. If we play our best team in the two formats (ODIs and T20Is), we will be at the top of the two formats.

"There is no doubt about that. Everybody around the world talks about that.

"While we are at the top of those two formats, our Test cricket will be stepping up and up."

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The 2019 World Cup in England will feature just 10 teams, down from 14 in 2015, with the host nation and the seven other top-ranked ODI teams at the end of September next year earning automatic qualification.

As it stands, the ninth-ranked Windies would need to finish in the top two of the 2018 ICC World Cup Qualifier tournament in Bangladesh to even qualify for the main event the following year.

Despite running the risk of missing the 2019 World Cup altogether, WICB CEO Michael Muirhead confirmed in Feburary that players must make themselves available for the Super50 competition in order to play ODI cricket.

"Those are the rules. It's about commitment, loyalty to West Indies cricket and an effort to build good team chemistry," Muirhead told cricbuzz.

"We are trying to get sponsorship for our domestic tournaments and one of the regular comments we get from potential sponsors is queries whether the notable players will be playing in the tournaments they would sponsor.

"So, our biggest players have to play in our competitions."

Simmons said the WICB's policy has also created a misconception that some of the Caribbean's biggest names are no longer interested in playing Test or ODI cricket.

The 52-year-old said it was a widely assumed falsehood that Gayle, the former Windies skipper who hasn't played Tests in almost two years, didn't want to play Test cricket.

While a chronic back problem has reduced the chances of Gayle returning to the red-ball game in recent years, Simmons said the 36-year-old has not retired from any form of the game.

"Chris had his back surgery (last year). Based on what I have seen in the World T20, he is getting stronger," Simmons said.

"I am sure he will be fully fit soon and he can play Test cricket.

"But the statement has been made that you have to stay home and play ten four-day games in order to be selected for Test cricket. Chris has not retired from anything.

"Chris wants to play everything. He wants to play every format of the game for West Indies. That is a huge thing that I have learned - that these guys want to play every format for West Indies.

"It is just a perception. These guys want to play international cricket for West Indies and they want to see West Indies successful at the international level."