Moeen Ali: Sammy sometimes picks his favourites

“That mindset has to change.”

Former England all-rounder Moeen Ali has delivered a fiercely critical assessment of West Indies’ selection process under Daren Sammy. 

While theorising how to help instil a ‘West Indies first’ mindset in the current crop of players in the era of franchise cricket, Ali said a clear performance-oriented selection process would go a long way.

He admitted his evaluation of Windies’ current all-format head coach “might be a bit harsh” but told The Super Over podcast, “I do feel Sammy sometimes picks his favourites and not necessarily the best players that are currently in the West Indies.” 

“I think that has to change. Not that you change the coach, but that mindset has to change. You've got to unite everyone first,” Ali continued.  

In 2024, Cricket West Indies made redundant its selection panel and its chairman, pivoting instead to regional scouts and Territorial Talent Identifiers (TTIDs), who report to a senior talent manager, with the head coach at the top of the chain. 

Ali insists players first need to believe in the merit of the selection criteria.

“If I see now that they're only picking certain players from certain islands, that already is putting me off. “So as soon as I'm playing really well, for example, I'm a young [Kamil] Pooran, I might just think, you know what, it's too 50-50 for me. I need it to be like, if I'm good enough to play, you've got to pick me. And I think it's got to start there first, and then I need to see West Indies being very loyal to me,” Ali expounded.

The region's limited finances affect the level of priority players give to international cricket, and Ali also acknowledged this, making a comparison to players from his former team, England.

“Someone like Harry Brook—I look at him, he's one of the best players in the world, but everything for him is about playing for England first,” Ali said of the talented right-hander who attracted a two-year suspension from the Indian Premier League (IPL) after withdrawing from the 2025 season to prioritize international cricket. 

“I think it's difficult because in the West Indies, the situation the guys are in, they (players) won't get the money, and it's a short career, and I understand. But also, I think, for me as an international player, it might be a mindset thing; initially, [I] was always like, it's all about England. That's what put me on the map in the first place, or put me in a position. The rest of it will take care of itself, but it's easy to say when you're getting paid well,” Ali was quick to add.

Turning down the USD 600,000 from the 2025 IPL Auction, regardless of how much Brook’s England contract is worth, requires a certain kind of mindset. The kind Ali doesn’t believe exists in the Caribbean currently.

“[Our] situation is different, but I do believe that we in England have a bit more of the mentality where it's England first,” he said.

Ali picked out West Indies white-ball captain Shai Hope as an ideal of what a Caribbean player should aspire to.

“I look at Shai Hope. He's the one guy I do look at, and I think he does it right. For him, it's not about being Bajan. Having played with him, I think he's the perfect character to emulate as a young player in the West Indies, because he's a class player. He's a brilliant player now, and his character is like that as well. He wants people to be together, united.”