National selectors to have more say in regional team

The new West Indies cricket selection process will bring the focus back to the territories where the national selectors will have a huge role.

Director of Cricket of Cricket West Indies (CWI) Miles Bascombe was a guest on Barbados’ radio show Mason and Guest on Tuesday, where he explained and clarified the roles of the coach and other managers who are entrusted with the selection of the region’s cricketers.

On August 29, during the CWI quarterly meeting media conference in Antigua, Bascombe explained that the coaches (Test coach Andre Coley and White ball coach Darren Sammy), will have the final say in the selection but they will be guided by the data-driven system.

“So pretty much, we’ve had a system where we have a selection panel, which is led by a lead selector (last being Desmond Haynes),” explained Bascombe.

“So the selection panel, members of the panel will view, regional, regional tournaments and international matches. They will convene and select the team, with the head coach usually being a member of that final selection panel. So we are moving towards a system where the main goal is for the system to be data-driven so that we gather as much information as we can about the players.”

Bascombe, who wanted to clarify some of the information that was relayed to the media two Thursdays ago, stated the territories have always played a role in the selection process.

“So even in the system before, the real engine room of our selection was the territories because the (West Indies) selectors would only see the players that the territorial selection panel (regional teams) put on display for them at regional tournaments,” Bascombe said.

“So they effectively choose and or select from an already narrowed pool of players. So what we want to try to do is we want to join the entire system so that the selectors at the territorial level basically have a seat at the table in terms of laying out for us the talent that they have in their territory.”

The process started with the West Indies’ last assignments as coach Darren Sammy picked the team for the T20 International (T20I) series against South Africa and Andre Coley picked the team for two Tests against the Proteas in August.

Sammy again will select the team for the One Day International (ODI) series in Sri Lanka in October.

The former cricketer also explained to the hosts Andrew Mason and Philo Wallace that the job of the ‘scouts’ who will assist the coaches from the territorial level will not be limited to just picking players.

“We will work with them to create payer profiles and depth charts and develop, player assessment tools, so that we can compare players across the region, with pretty much a standard instrument,” said Bascombe, who explained the regional selection managers who are charged with the responsibility of supporting the coaches are already in the system with experience.

“But those in that role are not new. We are leveraging the existing selection system in each of the territories and using those persons who are already accumulating data as part of their role as selectors within those territories.”

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