Kieron Pollard emphasises importance of fitness among West Indies players

Pollard's comments, which came ahead of the first one-day international between West Indies and Ireland, come in the week Shimron Hetmyer was once again excluded from selection consideration for failing to meet required fitness levels

West Indies white-ball captain Kieron Pollard has criticised the approach to fitness among elements of his squad.

Pollard's comments, which precede the first one-day international between West Indies and Ireland, come in the week Shimron Hetmyer was once again excluded from selection consideration for failing to meet required fitness levels.

Hetymer, the hugely talented batsman, came in "way below" the acceptable standard, according to head coach Phil Simmons.

And Russell, who leds West Indies in series against Ireland and England looking to make amends for a poor display in the T20 World Cup, emphasised that things must improve.

"It has been an issue that has been plaguing us for the last couple of years," Pollard said ahead of West Indies' first ODI against Ireland on Saturday.

^{Kieron Pollard has discussed fitness problems in the West Indies squad}

"One way to look at it is, the selection policy, the fitness policies are there. Guys know exactly what is needed to represent the West Indian team. Sometimes, as individuals, we take it for granted. Yes, sometimes it hinders the process of selecting the best players at the given available time.

"Things happened during the pandemic - security reasons - all these played a factor. But fitness has been one issue that has affected us in terms of trying to put our best team and sometimes, it's frustrating because you don't have the guys fit and available to represent the team.

"I will also say that it's an individual thing, they are supposed to pride themselves on being fit, performing and doing what is necessary for the team. When these things tend to happen, as an individual, I am sure it doesn't bode well to us too.

"Again, this is something I take very personally - fitness - and me being not able to participate because of injury - because that doesn't go too well with myself. Hence I got an opportunity to detour and recover and hopefully, I can stay with the team because I pride myself on that."

Hetmyer has missed several series for fitness reasons, with Simmons describing the pattern as "heart-wrenching".

Pollard is leading his team in series against Ireland and England

"You know that you're part of this team and you have to continue to be a certain fitness to be part of this team, and you keep letting down your team-mates," he said.

Russell, who is himself returning after a period out injured with a hamstring problem, has urged his players to understand the importance of keeping themselves in shape.

"For me, as an individual, the most I could do is try to make the guys understand the importance of fitness," Pollard said.

"When we are on tour, I can safely say there is no issue as to when the guys have to do their stuff in terms of what is required for the team and when they have to train in schedules. We tend to have these conversations, but I think the difficult part is when the guys leave from tour with responsibilities and with instructions and, sometimes, they don't follow it. And then they come back on tour and they start from ground zero.

"From my perspective, I can send a message and get it posted in a group. We are supposed to be professionals and we are supposed to be adults, and supposed to pride ourselves on that."

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