Legendary West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell believes that young cricketers are just not interested in playing Test cricket anymore. Speaking to the Press Association in an interview, the T20 star said that the rise of franchise leagues are a good indicator that the players are interested in playing the shorter format of the game.
The players from the generation of Andre Russell had a troubled history with the West Indies Cricket Board and opted to play for franchises across the world rather than playing for the national team. West Indies board has since tried to amend its relationship with the players, but many have opted to be freelancers in the franchise leagues across the world.
Russel believes that money is not the only factor that draws players to franchise leagues across the world.
“I don’t think it’s the money, I don’t think money is the issue. Based on the amount of T20 and leagues around the world, I think a lot of players are just not interested in playing Tests,” he told Press Association in a recent interview.
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Addressing the issue further, Russell said that the players wanted to compete at the big stage. West Indies have found it difficult to play all the big nations regularly. Recently they were beaten by England 3-0 in the Test series.
“As long as you can do well from contracts outside your nation I think they are going to grab that opportunity but everyone wants to play on the big stage. So, if the big stage comes in Test cricket, I know youngsters will be happy to play. I just don’t think it’s about money or anything like that.”
Windies are currently hosting South Africa in a 2-match Test series at home. The first Test match vs the Proteas was drawn at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain
Source Agencies
