CHAIRMAN of selectors Courtney Browne has urged players to make their mark in the upcoming Regional Super50 in order to force their way into the West Indies cricket squad.
He said West Indies were expected to have a heavy One-Day International (ODI) schedule this year, and with preparations already in train for the 2019 World Cup, it was crucial that players took advantage of every opportunity in the January 24 to February 18 tournament.
“We’re definitely looking forward to the Super50 to see that the incumbents go on and continue their good work,” the former Test wicketkeeper said Sunday on the Massy United Insurance Line and Length television programme.
“Then there are a lot of other young players who are challenging for places and we have a lot of ODI cricket coming up this year. So it is important – obviously, we’re building them up towards the World Cup – that all the players come in and get their runs, get their wickets, play tough and hard cricket and really show us they have the attitude, not only to be part of the team, but the attitude that we are looking for that makes West Indian people really proud.”
Browne emphasised consistency in performances.
“People just need to perform – that’s the most important [thing] – and perform consistently,” said Browne, who replaced legendary former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd, in the position last year.
“What we are trying to do is look at players over at least three seasons. One of the things that we are trying not to do is to pick players after just one season.
“At times that will happen, but if you can get a guy performing over three years consistently or over two years consistently, then we know he’s deserving of an opportunity at the senior level, or at least be considered for an opportunity at the senior level.”
Browne noted that the West Indies ODI side was at a young stage of their development, and singled out the unit which recently campaigned in the Tri-Nations Series in Zimbabwe.
He said the young players who made their mark on that tour needed to reiterate that form in the Regional Super50.
“This is going to be very important for us because coming off the Zimbabwe Tri-Series, we saw some good signs there,” the Barbadian pointed out.
“Obviously, we have a very young team where our captain Jason Holder he’s played about just over 50 ODIs (49) and the next person would have played about 20 or 22, and then all the others [on the Tri-Nations squad] were somewhere in the teens or actually there. Quite a number of people [had fewer than] ten ODIs.” (CMC)
