Two West Indies players withdraw from World Twenty20 squad

A WICB release today said that Pollard pulled out due to “lack of sufficient progress in his rehabilitative work”, while Narine’s reason was “insufficient progress in the rehabilitative work on his bowling action”.

Narine had earlier been picked in the West Indies squad for the 2015 World Cup, but also withdrew from that tournament to work on his bowling action, which was first reported during the 2014 Champions League T20.

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In a letter sent to the board, Bravo said that while he was “very grateful and humbled” to be selected, he preferred to focus on developing his game in the longest format.

Darren Sammy and Chris Gayle are two of the most important players who signed the contract for World T20 with the West Indies Cricket Board after initially refusing to do so.

The WICB said the new terms of the contract had been hammered out nearly 10 months ago in conjunction with players’ union, WIPA, and had been communicated then to all players. Narine’s bowling action, when tested, was found to be exceeding the 15-degree limit and as accordingly he had been suspended from bowling in worldwide tournaments.

Those players who were originally named in the 15-man squad include: Darren Sammy – captain, Sulieman Benn, Jason Holder, Andre Fletcher, Dwayne Bravo, Samuel Badree, Lendl Simmons, Jerome Taylor, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Denesh Ramdin and Chris Gayle.

With the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) standing firm in its stance that players must sign the offered contract by Sunday or be replaced, Sammy’s position could open the door to a resolution.

West Indies are ranked No. 2 in the Twenty20 format of the game and were the winners in 2012.

Middle-order batsman, Darren Bravo has since written to the selectors. Pollard has been out of action since November 2015 after he sustained an injury to his knee and is yet to recuperate fully, which has led to him pulling out of the World T20.

Sunday was the deadline set for the players to sign deals after they had protested over alleged pay cuts for the March 8-April 3 event.