Cricket West Indies (CWI) have revealed that opening batsman Evin Lewis has declined a new contract.
The explosive opener was offered a white-ball contract for the coming season but has opted to turn it down, according to an official statement by the Windies cricket board.
The 26-year-old has played 35 ODIs and 17 T20s for West Indies since making his international debut in 2016. He has registered two centuries in both formats for his country.
The left-hander’s immense hitting powers have seen him earn a lucrative IPL contract with the Mumbai Indians while he has also had stints in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and the Global T20 Canada.
West Indies T20 skipper Carlos Brathwaite, Ashley Nurse and Rovman Powell are the only three players retained on a white-ball contract following Lewis’ decision to turn one down.
CWI ISSUES NEW RETAINER CONTRACTS https://t.co/U85sttEIaG pic.twitter.com/ieUPHjnE1Y
— Windies Cricket (@windiescricket) October 1, 2018
Lewis is not the first West Indies player to turn down a central contract over the years. The likes of Chris Gayle, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo and Andre Russell have all declined central contracts in the past in favour of plying their trade in the cash-rich T20 leagues around the globe.
West Indies skipper Jason Holder, batsman Shai Hope and pacers Alzarri Joseph and Kemar Roach are the only players to be offered all-format central contracts.
The new contracts will be backdated to July 1, 2018 and will run till June 30, 2019.
“All Windies and Franchise players are now contracted from the 1st of July to the 30th of June, with their performances assessed from the 1st of April to the 31st of March. This will allow for a more efficient process of reviewing, renewing and awarding contracts within West Indies professional cricket and give everyone at least three months to plan for the season ahead. Our season will start each year with the Caribbean Premier League, followed by the Super50 Cup and finish on the Four-Day competition,” CWI CEO Johnny Grave said in the official release/
