'Outside interference' keeps Bravo, Pollard out of Sri Lanka

Bridgetown: West Indies head coach Phil Simmons has courted controversy by slamming "interference from outside" for the omission of Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard from the one-day squad for the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka.

Simmons said he, chairman of selectors Clive Lloyd and captain Jason Holder, were all in favour of the re-inclusion of Pollard and Bravo but "people" had used their "influence" to keep them out of the squad.

In a candid interview with reporters on the final day of the West Indies camp at the 3Ws Oval in Barbados, Simmons castigated such interference as "wrong" and said it had robbed the region of its best ODI squad.

"I think it's disappointing from the fact that I haven't got the best 50-over ODI squad that we can select in the Caribbean," an irate Simmons said.

(AFP)