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St John's: In a historic first, nine West Indies cricketers, including ODI vice-captain Alzarri Joseph, pace sensation Shamar Joseph, women's T20I skipper Hayley Matthews and her deputy Shemaine Campbelle, were awarded multi-year contracts for the next two years, the CWI announced.
The Cricket West Indies offered contracts to 15 men's cricketers and with six among them received multi-year deals based on their performances during the 2023-2024 evaluation period.
Of the 15 senior women’s players, three were awarded multi-year contracts.
The announcement comes amid growing participation of the West Indies cricketers in lucrative franchise leagues across the globe, which has long undermined the stability of the national teams.
The talent drain to global T20 leagues has considerably weakened West Indies' international squads, prompting the CWI to offer multi-year contracts as a strategy to provide financial security and retain players longer for national duty.
The development follows a four-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in January 2024 between CWI and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA).
"CWI has committed to maintaining open and honest dialogue with players and being practical about the realities of the modern game," CWI director of cricket Miles Bascombe has stated.
"The players have responded in kind and the acceptance of multi-year contracts is an indication of clarity, confidence, and commitment on both sides.
"I’d like to congratulate the entire contracted cohort on their performances in the last assessment period and I look forward to them building on those in next one."
The WI men’s contracted pool of international players is relatively stable, with only two changes in the 15-member group.
Kavem Hodge, who made his Test debut this year against Australia, received his first-ever international contract, along with Roston Chase.
Hodge played a pivotal role in Windies' first Test win in Australia in 28 years in Brisbane and then followed that up with a maiden Test century against England at Trent Bridge.
He was also the leading run-scorer in the series for the Caribbeans.
Chase averaged 60.25 with the bat for the year in T20Is at a strike rate of 141.76 in eight innings where he notched 241 runs.
He also bagged 12 wickets in the format with an economy rate of 6.43.
The all-rounder also averaged 32.85 with the bat in eight ODIs for the last 12 months.
Tagenerine Chanderpaul, son of legendary former captain Shivnarine, will take up a franchise retainer contract with the Guyana Harpy Eagles for the upcoming year whilst Kemar Roach is in discussions regarding a new dual playing and mentorship/coaching role as he begins to plan for the next stage of his career.
The List
Multi-year contract:
Men: Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph, Brandon King, Gudakesh Motie and Jayden Seales.
Women: Shemaine Campbelle, Hayley Matthews and Stafanie Taylor.
One-year contract
Men: Alick Athanaze, Kraigg Brathwaite, Keacy Carty, Roston Chase, Joshua Da Silva, Kavem Hodge, Akeal Hosein, Romario Shepherd, Rovman Powell.
Women: Aaliyah Alleyne, Shamilia Connell, Deandra Dottin, Afy Fletcher, Cherry Ann Fraser, Chinelle Henry, Zaida James, Qiana Joseph, Ashmini Munisar, Chedean Nation, Karishma Ramharack and Rashada Williams.