Why Nicholas Pooran’s retirement should concern us
By: Garfield Robinson
International cricket is in trouble.
The stupendous rise of Twenty20 (T20) cricket has led to a diminution of the international game and especially of Test cricket. Every year seems to herald the emergence of a new T20 league.
They now proliferate to such an extent that even the most ardent cricket followers find it impossible to keep up with all that is going on all over the world. This is no bad thing, in a way.
The T20 leagues are lucrative and enable a reasonably large number of players to earn a decent living playing the game they love and are good at. But it all comes at a cost, a cost that the less wealthy cricketing nations like the West Indies have been paying.
The latest installment of that payment has come in the form of the retirement from international cricket of Nicholas Pooran. The left-hander issued a statement telling of his gratitude for having represented the people of the Caribbean: “After much thought and reflection, I’ve decided to announce my retirement from international cricket,” Pooran wrote.
“This game we love has given and will continue to give me so much joy, purpose and unforgettable memories and a chance to represent the people of the West Indies. Wearing that maroon, standing for the anthem and giving everything I had each time I stepped on the field...it’s hard to put into words what that truly means to me.”
The Trinidadian is 30 and was the West Indies’ best T20 batter, one of the best in the world. He hasn’t been at his best recently but in last season’s IPL he slammed 524 runs at an average of 43.66 and an almost unbelievable strike rate of 196.25. He is the most prolific six-hitter in the game and has hit the most in the game since 2024.
Also high on that list is Heinrich Klaasen of South Africa, who, it turns out, also announced his retirement from international cricket. Pooran has the capacity to dominate any attack and so the already struggling West Indies will be considerably weaker without him.
Not that he has always been available: he has not represented the West Indies in 50-over cricket since July 2023 and asked to be rested for this current series in England. But his retirement means that the prospects of the Caribbean side in their more immediate upcoming endeavours have taken a dive.
This is nothing new for the West Indies. Franchise commitments and their own selection policy has long prevented them from choosing a team from a pool of its best players.
And no Caribbean cricket fan would dare argue that our top men have always been available for selection, whether it is Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Andre Russell, Shimron Hetmyer, Sunil Narine, or any number of others.
It is evident that many players no longer see international cricket, and Test cricket in particular, as the pinnacle of the sport. Or, they are willing to forgo playing at the highest level to maximize their earnings.
Whichever it is it spells gloom for the international game. I have no way of knowing, of course, but this is what I believe: had there been no T20 leagues to purchase his skills, Pooran would likely have been the West Indies’ premier batter, and one of the better Test match batters in the game.
His ability is undeniable, and his capacity for wreaking mayhem with the bat is why he is in such high demand on the T20 circuit, as was the likes of Chris Gayle, Andre Russell and Kieron Pollard before him.
If it seems like I’m saying all this is the fault of the T20 leagues then be clear that I am not. The cricket calendar is chaotic and has a free-for-all feel to it. Players who are adept at the T20 game, and especially those from the less wealthy nations, have become globe-trotting cricketers-for-hire.
Pooran, for example, has represented 23 or 24 different franchise teams by my calculation. The count for Andre Russell is about 28. Franchise cricket has long been eating away at the time available for international cricket. Tours are more and more becoming frenzied affairs, with games crammed together in quick succession.
This only serves, I believe, to dilute the intensity and quality of the action in the middle. Last year, Indian fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah was rested for two of five Tests on tour of England. And that was not a unique situation either because we have seen England and Australia do similarly before.
This is now something that is often seen as necessary to preserve the health and match readiness of fast bowlers. But I can’t remember Walsh or Ambrose or Marshall or Lillee or Hadlee ever being asked to sit out a Test match unless they were injured.
Things can’t go on like this. Cricket is crying out for some sort of structure. There must be a way to better streamline the disorder and confusion that now obtains. It can’t be that the cricketing eco-system will be allowed to deteriorate even more, to fall into even further disarray.
It is as if no one is at the helm of world cricket and so it drifts along aimlessly, going wherever the gusts of franchise cricket and the monied cricket boards push it. While we hope for the preservation of international cricket and especially of Test cricket it is difficult to shake the feeling that it might be in some danger.
Not long ago, the World Cricketer’s Association (WCA) submitted a few proposals in a document titled: Protecting History, Embracing Change: A Unified, Coherent, Global Future.
It includes, among other things, the creation of windows for international cricket each year and a more equitable sharing of cricket revenue. Perhaps the ICC should, if it hasn’t already, seriously consider implementing at least some of the suggested reforms.
Things are especially perilous in the Caribbean and many of us are afraid the game could die a death brought on by mismanagement and neglect.