“Motie in our thoughts, but Hosein performed in Bangladesh” – Roger Harper

– Jimmy Adams clears the air on fitness

By Brandon Corlette

Cricket West Indies Lead Selector Roger Harper has clarified decisions regarding the selection and non-selection of some players in the West Indies white-ball squad to play Sri Lanka from March 3.
Harper has said that Guyana’s Gudakesh Motie has done well in the Regional Super50 tournament, but left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein gave a good account of himself in Bangladesh.

“Motie certainly had an outstanding season, and certainly drew attention to himself, but Akeal Hosein acquitted himself very well in Bangladesh, and he is a left-arm spinner as well. But Motie is in our thoughts,” Harper told the media in a virtual media briefing on Saturday.
In addition to the comments from Harper, CWI Cricket Director Jimmy Adams spoke about fitness as it relates to the players. CWI announced that fast bowlers Sheldon Cottrell and Oshane Thomas, along with batsman Shimron Hetmyer and all-rounder Roston Chase, have failed to reach the minimum fitness standard in time for selection consideration, and will all remain in Antigua after the CGI Insurance Super50 Cup to work on their fitness and conditioning.
“That minimum standard is 40, and all the players are aware. Failure to get 40 makes them unavailable for selection. There are going to be times that players, for different reasons, might be unable and incapable of achieving minimum standards. There are exemptions given to some of these players. The four main areas considered are: age, individual psychological limitations, injury history, and training history,” Adams posited.

With Hetmyer playing in the Super50 and scoring heavily, many are asking how the left-hander could be considered unfit while he is scoring so heavily. Adams has, however, said the fitness standards at the Regional franchise level vary from those at the international level.
“In most systems across the world, there is a higher standard for the international players across different sports than you would find for club players of first-class players,” Adams explained.
When asked if a player who scores a large quantity of runs can be eligible for selection if he cannot meet the minimum fitness standard, Adams said only if that player is returning from injury would consideration be given him in that scenario.
Therefore, the Hetmyer omission must be processed.
“If I run 44 on my last fitness test and that was my target, my next target is going to be five to seven levels above 44. There is nothing stopping individual franchises from moving that (the minimum standard), but we would encourage that. What we don’t want is to have a setup where you have a team with players who are in my view fit and they are trying to win games with players who can’t stand up physically to the demands of international cricket,” Adams explained.
He further noted that these fitness tests are done at least twice a year, but there are tests that can be done at any time if the coach wants to assess a player.
“For the contracted West Indies player, it is a 12-month process that we manage via the local physio and local coaches,” Adams said.
Harper also spoke about the non-selection of Guyana’s Keemo Paul, who is still recovering from his injury; while Sunil Narine has indicated that he is not ready to return to international cricket, and is still fine-tuning his game.