West Indies will use the next year to map out a management plan for their red and white-ball players to ensure they enjoy a balance between international and franchise cricket. That was the parting shot interim coach Andre Coley offered at the end of a fairly tough three months of Test cricket for his team.
West Indies played in Australia, Zimbabwe and South Africa and won one of their six Test matches on the road to finish the 2021-2023 World Test Championship in seventh spot. While the results are not exactly what Coley was after, he hopes these tours have laid the groundwork for West Indies to plan how to approach future Test series, while juggling player availability for T20 leagues.
Read more"There's no doubt that playing international cricket helps to develop your level of the game," Coley said. "White-ball [cricket] may be the big money-earner but if you really look at the players who are very good at both red and white balls, they would have had a good grounding in Test cricket. It's important for us to find that balance. I know the players want to play for the West Indies and we want our best players to play for the West Indies, but the balance is important. It's also their livelihood. If we can, over the next 12 months, plan out with the members of the different squads how we can best manage to keep everyone as fresh as possible, for international and for franchise cricket, we will have a good chance of being more competitive."