No change in CWI selection policy despite Covid outbreak

Lead selector of Cricket West Indies (CWI), Roger Harper, says he doesn't expect any difficulties picking future teams in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. Cricketers across the Caribbean are currently inactive and risk losing fitness due to the postponement and cancellations of several franchise competitions including the regional 4-day championship which ended with two rounds of matches to play.

However, Harper says they will not change their selection policy when the Windies return to competitive action.

“Heaven only knows when this thing (Covid 19) will come to an end, but I think that the same sort of criteria that we use to select teams will of course be used and we’ll have to take into consideration the most recent performances of the players, the present conditions, if they are fit and healthy, then those are the things we’ll have to take into consideration,” he said.

The Windies' tour of England which is scheduled to start on May 22, is currently in the balance. Meanwhile, despite the 4-day season ending after 8 rounds, Harper says he was satisfied with what he saw. 

“I think it was a tremendous opportunity for our players to showcase their skills and show what they are made of. One of the pluses this year is that we had a number of our international players being involved in a number of games which made a difference,” said Harper who was speaking on the Barbadian radio programme 'Mason & Guest' earlier this week. The Jamaica Scorpions tied with the Guyana Jaguars in third place with the Barbados Pride being declared champions.