WIPA questions West Indies selection process

The West Indies Players' Association (WIPA) has questioned the decision to exclude Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul from the West Indies squad for the first two one-day internationals against Pakistan. The association suggested there were factors other than "performance, potential, playing conditions and preparedness" that were behind the decision, and that these reasons were not explained to the players.

WIPA filed a notice of dispute, claiming that the selection process was not "fair and transparent", and was in breach of the memorandum of understanding between WIPA and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB)

The WICB's explanation for axing the three experienced players was that it was in keeping with their policy to expose young players to international cricket. The WICB chief executive Ernest Hilaire also added that none of the senior players had been axed permanently, and that the selectors would explain to every player how they fit into the long-term plan.

The exclusion of Gayle, Sarwan and Chanderpaul comes after a disappointing World Cup campaign for West Indies in which none of the three batsmen scored a half-century against a Test-playing nation.

WIPA and the WICB have been at loggerheads over several issues in the past, the most significant stand-off between the two bodies being the one over player contracts that resulted in WIPA boycotting the Bangladesh home series in 2009. The player association had also slammed WICB's decision not to give Sarwan a central retainer in 2010.

In its press release issued on Saturday, WIPA said that after their exclusion from the national squad, Gayle, Sarwan and Chanderpaul should not be stopped from trying to earn money by playing cricket outside the Caribbean.