Five players who held West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) retainer contracts last year have been blanked for the upcoming contract.
Reports are that left-arm spinners Sulieman Benn and Nakita Miller, as well as left-handed batsman Brendan Nash and Devon Smith, along with all-rounder Dave Bernard Jr. have all been overlooked for retainers, which range in value from US$80,000 to US$120,000 annually.
The list of 18 also does not include Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard – all of whom were not on the retainer contract list for the past year – neither Lendll Simmons and Ramnaresh Sarwan.
Benn and Miller seem to have fallen out of favor with the selectors, having not been selected for West Indies since returning from the World Cup in India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh last year.
Form eluded Nash, who was omitted form the Test squad currently in Bangladesh and has chosen not to play for Jamaica in the WICB Super50 competition later this month.
Lack of form could also justify the omission of Smith. He struggled to cope with the Pakistani spinners during the home series earlier this year.
Gayle, Bravo and Pollard turned down retainer contracts last year to pursue other professional playing pursuits.
Simmons has made a successful return to the West Indies side, but he and Sarwan have been subject to a recent arbitration with the WICB concerning unfair treatment in the award of previous retainer contracts.
Marlon Samuels and Fidel Edwards returned to the West Indies side during the last year, following personal setbacks for contrasting reasons, and they have also been offered retainer contracts.
Devandra Bishoo, Kraigg Braithwaite, Shannon Gabriel, Kieron Powell and Devon Thomas all had development contracts in the past year, but have now been offered new retainer contracts.
