(SPORTSMAX) – West Indies batting legend Brian Lara has insisted that the continued omission of some of the region’s most talented players for the One Day International (ODI) format of the game does fans a disservice.Ahead of an upcoming triangular series against Australia and South Africa some of the team’s most experienced players will miss out on the series for one reason or the other.
One cause for their omission will be a recently passed WICB regulation, which states that cricketers must have taken part in the regional domestic season to be involved in the series. Both West Indies coach Phil Simmons and bowling consultant Curtly Ambrose have already expressed dissatisfaction with the situation and Lara has added his voice to the debate.
“In terms of the tri-nation, I think it’s going to be a pretty exciting series. And hopefully, we can have the likes of Pollard and Bravo — some guys who have not played that form of the game (recently) back in the team, because they are integral to any West Indies team. Just having them for the T20 version I think is doing a disservice to West Indies cricket,” he said.
Bravo and Pollard in particular have been controversial omissions from ODI squads in recent times, with Windies coach Simmons claiming that there were outside influences that continued to prevent the players’ return to the squad.
Bravo has taken part in 164 ODIs, and remains just 32 runs short of 3 000 runs and one wicket shy of 200 scalps in the format.
The tri-nations series will run from June 3 to 26 in Guyana, St Kitts & Nevis and Barbados.