"It Hurts But What Can You Do?" - Phil Simmons On Lack Of Clarity On Availability Of Key Players For West Indies
West Indies head coach Phil Simmons was open about the lack of clarity offered by certain West Indian players on their availability, claiming that they pick and choose when to play for the national side.
Just a couple of months away from the T20 World Cup, Andre Russell has made himself unavailable. Oshane Thomas and Evin Lewis haven’t attended the fitness tests while Sunil Narine’s position is unclear.
Without knowing the players that are available, the selection committee will have a hard time deciding on a set squad for the ICC event.
“It hurts. There’s no other way to put it. But what can you do? I don’t think that I should be begging people to play for their countries. I think if you want to represent West Indies, you will make yourself available.”
“Life has changed, in that people have the opportunities to go different places and if they choose that over West Indies, that’s just how it is,” Simmons said.
Phil Simmons on tinkering with the batting order against New Zealand
Ahead of the 3-match T20I series against the Kiwis, Simmons reckoned there might be changes in the batting lineup that lost the 5-match series against India 1-4.
“So far we have been experimenting; as we get to the end of these games, we’re going to have a better idea how we want them to be put in the order and how we want them to go in.”
“And we tend to judge it by overs and the situation. So in each game, it could be different. Shimron could bat higher and Pooran could bat lower. It just depends on the game, the situation in the game,” Simmons added.
The first T20I between West Indies and New Zealand takes place on August 11.
