New testing policy coming for CWI players

The Cricket West Indies (CWI) Medical panel will be instituting new testing come June as the entity seeks to revolutionise its fitness assessment policy.

The new policy comes in the wake of the failed fitness test by batsmen Evin Lewis and Shimron Hetmyer who did not attain the minimum standard of 40 which ruled them out of this month’s one day tour to Sri Lanka.

Lewis and Hetmyer came back with scores of under 30 and 25, respectively, following the physical Yo-Yo endurance test and as a result, the pair were not considered for selection according to chief selector Roger Harper.

Most international teams, including the West Indies, utilise the Yo-Yo test which is a maximal aerobic endurance fitness test, involving running between markers placed 20 metres apart, at increasing speeds, until exhaustion. At regular intervals, the required running speed increases. The test continues until the participants are no longer able to keep up with the required pace.

Precautionary stance

STAR Sports understands that the players’ non-inclusion was more of a precautionary stance as they were most likely to break down and pick up injuries during the tour.

It was also revealed that injured players on tour who return home are still paid in full by CWI. A replacement player is also paid for the entire tour.

In the meantime, chairman of the CWI Medical Panel Dr Donovon Bennett says the entity will be doing away with the Yo-Yo test and bring in the new five parameter fitness policy which will revolutionise how players are assessed.

Currently, the West Indies players undergo fitness assessments biannually with the next testing period scheduled for June.

“We have been concerned with the fitness levels of our players for some time now and so we decided that we will introduce five different tests that will include strength and speed as well as agility,” said Bennett.

Bennett added that the new system will encompass different aspects of fitness and the process will be a more holistic and honest scoring system.

“Every human’s aerobic capacity goes down by one or two percentage point every year and so we cannot hold all the players to the same standards, we have to take into consideration medical conditions as well. We want to revolutionise the fitness testing system and be the first to implement the new policy,” added Bennett.

Bennett went on to mention that the players need to ensure that they are in good stead when the next fitness assessment date comes around.