Bravo brothers, Pollard, Simmons edge closer to West Indies returns

The Bravo brothers, Kieron Pollard and Lendl Simmons have all made themselves available for the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force in Cricket West Indies' upcoming Super50 Tournament, in another step towards returning to the national side for the 2019 World Cup in England. A release from the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board stated that Bravo would, in fact, be the vice-captain of the Red Force, which will be led by wicketkeeper-batsman Denesh Ramdin. Also named in the squad was fast bowler Ravi Rampaul, who last played for West Indies in November 2015.

The latest development came after it had emerged in July this year that talks were ongoing between the players and Cricket West Indies. The board subsequently shifted the Super50 from February 2019 to October this year, to ensure minimal clash between the domestic 50-over competition and various T20 leagues around the world that the players are a part of.

Johnny Grave, the CWI chief executive officer, had told ESPNcricinfo then that the board intended to let the players perform in the Super50 to earn their way back into the national squad. The view was seconded by Courtney Browne, the chairman of selectors.

The developments serve to further bridge the differences between the players and the board that began when Narine, Pollard and Darren Bravo chose the Pakistan Super League (PSL) over representing West Indies in the World Cup Qualifiers.

Matters then took a turn for the worse when the Bravo brothers, Pollard and Narine claimed that they were denied an opportunity to help the Caribbean people after being ignored for a Hurricane Relief charity game between West Indies and a World XI side in May.

This move is now the latest in a series of remedial measures that has resulted in the comebacks of Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels, Andre Russell returning to the ODI fold for the first time since November 2015, and a revamped player contract system.