Marlon Samuels has called on the WICB to “compromise” in their selection policy after he was omitted from West Indies’ ODI squad, and suggested he could accept a Kolpak deal in county cricket if an agreement cannot be reached.
Samuels, twice man of the match in World T20 finals, was left out of West Indies’ 15-man squad after electing to miss games in the Super 50 competition—the Caribbean regional List A tournament—in order to play in the more lucrative Pakistan Super League. Current WICB policy is that no player will be considered for the international team unless they have made themselves available for the entire regional competition in that format.
But Samuels, who claims he was offered double the value of his previous West Indies retainer contract (worth $135,000) to appear in the BPL, argues that the WICB could learn from the example of the boards of New Zealand and England, who allow their players to appear in overseas T20 leagues without it rendering them ineligible for international cricket. Late last year, Samuels was one of the three players—along with Darren Bravo and Carlos Brathwaite—to decline the WICB retainer. It is understood that Samuels was offered a Grade C contract worth $115,000, demoting him from the previous Grade B.
“Why can’t I play some games in the PSL and come back and play against England?” Samuels asked in an interview with a Jamaica-based television network. “I’m not 20. You’re still telling me to miss out on everything. Why can’t you compromise?
“The rule they have doesn’t make any sense. You have to compromise. Eoin Morgan, the England captain, is playing in the PSL and then he goes to the Caribbean. Why can’t I do the same? Why play hardball in everything?”
