The focus on ODIs and T20

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Stabroek News - Perusing the statements by West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) chief executive officer Michael Muirhead and newly elected Board president Whycliffe ‘Dave’ Cameron regarding Pakistan’s tour of the West Indies this year, which will comprise five One Day Internationals (ODIs) and two Twenty20 (T20) matches, one is left none the wiser as to what precisely were the “circumstances” Mr Cameron was referring to that “dictated” that no Test matches would be played. The fact remains that the West Indies will have played a grand total of only four Tests by the end of 2013. Mr Cameron’s supposed dissatisfaction with this state of affairs is not convincing. It has been brought about by the earlier decision of the previous Board – on which Mr Cameron served as vice-president – to host a tri-nation ODI series, with India and Sri Lanka, starting in June and replacing a full tour with Tests by Sri Lanka, mainly to facilitate players participating in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Of course, the surfeit of T20 is making it increasingly difficult to find a window for Test matches but it is a particularly disappointing development in the context of the West Indies’ current six-match winning streak in Tests against Bangladesh, New Zealand and Zimbabwe, and the encouraging signs in 2012 that the Test team was becoming more competitive against higher ranked opponents.