Former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd believes the time has come to fight for West Indies players and ensure their careers are not ended prematurely by the politics of the game.
Lloyd, the West Indies chairman of selectors, was speaking in the wake of the decision by Champions League Twnety20 organizers to ban West Indies off-spinner Sunil Narine from bowling in the tournament after umpires reported Narine twice last month for a suspect bowling action.
Narine was also pulled from the 14-member squad for the ODI and Test series against India which started this week in Kochi.
Lloyd questioned the motivation behind reporting Narine, stressing that such a decision had the potential to end a player’s career.
“I can face that sort of situation to save a young man who has been plying his trade and all of a sudden now (this happens), it’s so destroying. It can destroy a team,” Lloyd fumed.
“You want to know if this is being orchestrated because if you lose your main bowler then it puts some pressure on the selectors and the team and so on,” he said.
Recalling the case of West Indies fast bowler Jermaine Lawson, Lloyd said there were obvious double standards in world cricket and young Caribbean players needed a voice to argue their cause.
Lawson, a Jamaican who played 13 Tests for West Indies, saw a promising career derailed after his action repeatedly came under international scrutiny.
“The point is that I looked at the guy who was called Jermaine Lawson. He got seven wickets and a hat-trick in that seven, and all of a sudden, the Australians said he is throwing,” Lloyd contended.
“I am unhappy with the way things have been done about West Indian players and I think it’s about time that we stand up for our youngsters,” the WICB selector said.
