(CMC) – Former West Indies captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul believes some regional players are more interested in making money from the sport than on representing the Caribbean.
Chanderpaul, who played for the regional side for two decades, made the comments as he suggested that the Twenty20 leagues across the world were having an impact on the West Indies team.
“There are a lot of Premier [T20] leagues around the world. West Indies cricket is not what these guys would depend on these days, so I don’t think they’re as keen. They can go elsewhere and play and not focus on having to represent West Indies,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper.
“Whatever comes up, the guys are happy to make as much as they can while their cricket career lasts,” he added.
The former left-handed batsman, who amassed more than 10,000 runs in Test cricket, said when he wore the maroon, he and his teammates “played for more than just money”.
“We played for pride,” added Chanderpaul, who was inducted into the International Cricket Council’s Hall of Fame last week.
While he did not single out any players, big hitters like Andre Russell and Chris Gayle have been staples in T20 franchise cricket.
Chanderpaul was speaking ahead of the West Indies’ two-match series against Australia, set for November 30 to December 1 in Perth, Australia which will be preceded by a three-day warm-up game against an ACT/NSW XI at the Philip Oval, Canberra on Thursday, and a four-day pink ball match against the Australia Prime Minister’s XI at the Manuka Oval, also in Canberra, beginning next Wednesday.
