The directors of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), over the weekend ratified a number of recommendations coming from its Cricket Committee that will affect the selection and participation of the West Indies B Team in next year's regional first-class cricket championship.

In acknowledging that the selection and participation of the team in this year's Busta Cricket Series was fraught with problems, the WICB asked the Cricket Committee to discuss the issue and make specific recommendations that will help the to make the team more competitive in next year's first-class championship.

"Over the last two years, the B Team has been picked hurriedly and we are not too pleased with that ad hoc approach to its selection," Rev. Wes Hall, president of the WICB, told a news conference at the Trinidad Hilton Hotel on Monday.

"Because this is a World Cup year and some of the territorial teams will be affected by the absence of leading players, we wanted to devise a mechanism for selecting the B Team that would be fair to the territories and meet the objective of ensuring that those selected would represent a competitive team comprised of the region's best young players."

"The territorial teams - Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Trinidad & Tobago and Windward Islands - will be asked to name 13 "protected" players who will NOT be eligible for selection to the B team by January 15. But any player not on that list and meeting the age requirement will be eligible for selection to the B Team.

The Cricket Committee also recommended, and the directors agreed that the age restriction of Under-23 for the B Team is to be maintained. Players should be under 23 after January 1 next year and, for the first time, the captain of the team will be chosen from among the players selected.

Rev. Hall also revealed that those picked will be able to transfer from their national team to the B Team for a particular round of matches, but the reverse will not be allowed.

"One of the problems we have had is that young players eligible for the B Team were picked by their national teams and when the leading players on duty with West Indies returned they were never given a chance to play at all," he said.

The West Indies junior selection committee along with coach Gus Logie and senior selector Joey Carew will pick the B Team.

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