WICB ties national selection to regional tournaments

The West Indies board has made national selection contingent on players' availability for regional tournaments. This is one of several criteria announced on Friday by the WICB as an effort to build teams in the various formats and is geared at ensuring high standards at the domestic level and retaining the best-available talent for international cricket.

Players must, barring "exceptional circumstances", participate in regional cricket when not representing West Indies," a board statement said.

Most recently, Kieron Pollard, the West Indies allrounder, opted to skip an A tour to England and chose instead to play for Somerset. Though Pollard's case did not involve a regional competition, the criteria is aimed at having the top players feature in the domestic tournaments and remain in contention for selection into the national squad.

Those players seeking selection into a particular format will have to make themselves available for participation in the corresponding regional version - the first-class four-day competition, the 50-over one-day tournament or the Caribbean T20. The rule applies to all levels of cricket, including age-group and women's cricket.

In addition, the criteria include a minimal level of fitness, consistently high levels of performance, commitment to participation in activities organised by the WICB and any prescribed remedial programme by the board following an injury.

The WICB also mapped out timelines for achieving objectives in terms of the national team's performance. A "settled competitive unit" by the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy, the board said, would lay the ground for a "winning combination" by the 2015 World Cup. Similar goals were set for the 2014 ICC World Twenty20, though the board acknowledged that achieving consistency in Tests would take longer.