Gayle, Chanderpaul and Sarwan could be out of Aussie series

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – West Indies could lose the cream of their batting talent for the first two Tests of their home series against Australia later this year because of commitments to the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Dr. Donald Peters, chief executive officer of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), has disclosed that West Indies captain Chris Gayle, as well as former captains Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan could miss the Tests in Jamaica (May 22-26) and Antigua (May 30-June 3) because they have signed up to play in the lucrative Indian Premier League.

“We are aware that we may lose the players for the first two Tests against Australia, and I asked the selectors to be cognisant of this, and to try to put batsmen on the side that could replace Gayle, Chanderpaul, and Sarwan,” Dr. Peters told reporters on Friday.

The WICB’s chief executive officer was in Barbados to meet the visiting Sri Lanka team, and also in-transit to Dubai, where he will attend a meeting of the ICC, the sport’s World governing body, over the next few days, when the topic of the IPL will feature prominently.

“There is a real threat that if the players’ teams reach the Final, they could be gone for 44 days, so we are really worried about this,” he said.

“I am heading to Dubai for an ICC meeting, and I will talk to the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India about this, and the effect of IPL.

“Cricket administrators around the World are worried about the IPL, particularly New Zealand and West Indies because IPL takes place in the middle of when our seasons occur. But all of us stand to lose a significant amount of players.”

Earlier this week, the WICB issued a news release in which its President Julian Hunte questioned the impact of the IPL on the future of the game in the region, as he prepared for the meeting in Dubai.

Dr. Peters revealed that the WICB has proposed that a 30-day window be put in place for all the private cricket franchises to play their competitions.

“. . .Then nobody gets affected, and everybody can go back to play for their national teams, but IPL, right now, is a major factor in the way it affects international cricket,” he said.

“West Indies and New Zealand are two of the smallest cricket nations, and it will hurt us the most if our best players leave to play in the IPL because it’s hard to replace three of your best players. But we have to find a solution.”

Dr. Peters believes the WICB is powerless to stop the players from taking part in the IPL.

“I have the NOCs for the players, and I have to release the players, but I am not going to not release the players because they would go anyway,” he said.

“Given the amount of money involved, it certainly destabilises the infrastructure of cricket. It’s not fair to the players, and it’s not fair to the national teams.

“But this is capitalism at its best, free market enterprise at its best, and we now instead of crying have to find a way to make it work, so that we win, and they win. But right now we are losing.”

Dr. Peters noted that Digicel, sponsors of West Indies cricket and the home series, were not concerned right now about the impact West Indies losing three key players would have on the attractiveness of the series.

“I believe people in the West Indies want to see our team play, and I personally feel if we can put a few young, exciting players out there, people will still come to watch the matches,” he said.

“But if fans have bought their tickets, they should go and see West Indies play because they would also be playing against an under-strength Australia side, so there is a 50-50 shot that they can win the series.”

West Indies face Australia in three Tests with the third match in Barbados (June 12-16), a Twenty20 International at the same venue (June 20), and five One-day Internationals in St. Vincent (June 24), Grenada (June 27 and 29), and St. Kitts (July 4 and 6).

The IPL is a franchise-based Twenty20 competition organised by the BCCI, and it has official sanction since it has the backing of the ICC.

It features the world’s best cricketers playing – their affiliation decided by open auction – for eight city-based franchises, owned by a host of businessmen and celebrity consortiums.

The inaugural edition of the tournament will run from April 18 to June 1.