India to tour West Indies for a four test match series this summer
Dave Cameron, the president of the West Indies Cricket Board has confirmed that the ‘Men in Blue’ will be traveling to the Caribbean later this summer to compete in a four test match series against the island nation.
There were clouds of uncertainty over the proper execution of the bilateral series after BCCI decided to penalize the West Indies Cricket Board ever since the Caribbean officials jeopardized West Indies’ tour of India mid-way back in 2014. However, Dave Cameron’s statement has put an end to all the speculations that were going on regarding the suspension of the series.
‘The tour is on’
The WICB is yet to fix any specific dates for the Test series which would take place during the months of July and August. The occurrence of the bilateral series during those two months would hamper the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) which traditionally begins in the latter half of June and ends in the first half of August.
In a recent interview given to Cricket Radio, Cameron said, “The official word is that the tour is on. We are just awaiting confirmation of the venues now. And once we have done that, we will send out a release with the dates, the venues and everything.”
“Yes, it will (clash with the CPL). The unfortunate thing is that the international calendar is packed. And the only window for this tour to come off is during that time. So, there will be a clash, but we are working with CPL to ensure there is no clash of venues so times of the matches won't be hampered,” the WICB president added.
The Caribbean Premier League, which has been going on since 2013 has already orchestrated the player draft- which witnessed the exclusion of 15 West Indies cricketers such as Marlon Samuels, Jason Holder, Denesh Ramdin, Darren Bravo and Kemar Roach.
Speaking on this topic, Dave Cameron told ESPN Cricinfo, “The (Caribbean Premier League) draft did not include the Test players simply because it was always anticipated it would clash with the Test series. So the players are already aware of that.”
When asked about the current status of the BCCI-WICB relationship, Cameron said, “You know, the truth is I am not sure where the talk of bad relations with the WICB and the BCCI have come from. We have always maintained good relations.
Fortunately or unfortunately, the leadership of the BCCI has changed, and as you know, Mr. Shashank Manohar is now the president, BCCI, and chairman of the ICC, and he has made some changes there as well, and we've been able to move forward in an efficient way.”