Bravo, Pollard blacklisted
Mon, Apr 1, '19
Former West Indies Cricket Coach Phil Simmons will be available to coach the West Indies team again if needed after July 15th, 2019. Speaking from overseas during the Isports radio programme on i95.5fm with host Andre Errol Baptiste on Saturday night, Simmons stated, "At the moment I am contracted to Afghanistan and there can be no talk about West Indies cricket. I'm focused on Afghanistan and how we get ready for the Cricket World Cup starting in May.”
He continued, “But after the Finals on July 15th, my contract is up with Afghanistan, but nobody knows the future, but my whole aim now is to win the World Cup so after 15th July, let us see what happens. But everyone who knows me understands how much I love the region and how hard it has been for me over the last three years dealing with that matter. I am just glad it is over and my name has been cleared. Most importantly, the apology from the new President Ricky Skerritt goes a long way in clearing up a lot of the talk under the previous administration. I believe that this shows that this new team is about the interest of cricket and not about themselves.”
Simmons, who made his Test debut in 1988 and played 26 Test matches for the West Indies, spoke about the many ills he experienced as West Indies coach and despite his success with the team winning the ICC World T20 final on April 3rd, 2016, recalled a number of situations he had to endure.
He said, “I remember the former president telling me that we could not pick certain players (named called Dwayne Bravo and Keiron Pollard) because they passed him straight and did not say anything, how they had no manners, team selection was just too personal. In fact, he said unless they play for Trinidad and Tobago, they should not play for the West Indies. This was also echoed at the selector's meetings.”
read more at Trinidad Guardian
