The Independent Voice of West Indies Cricket

Narine not ready for Test return

Wed, Sep 2, '15

 

Media Watch

West Indies coach Phil Simmons has confirmed he is in a much clearer position over the status of high profile players Dwayne Bravo, Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Lendl Simmons and Andre Russell, regarding their availability to play Test cricket and other formats for the Caribbean side going forward.

Simmons was giving an update on his talks with the aforementioned players after revealing exclusively to Newsday his plans to do so in May.
Since Simmons made that revelation, players such as Bravo and Simmons’ nephew Lendl have confirmed in the media that they don’t want to play Tests because of the pay structure in the new MOU/ CBA that was signed by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and West Indies Players Association (WIPA). Russell also stated he can’t play the longer format because of a persistent knee problem.

“I have had good discussions speaking with all the players. Yes, Bravo and Lendl said they don’t want to play Tests for reasons you mentioned, but I’m happy that they were honest about that,” said Simmons.