Players  hopeful of squeezing into the West Indies team for next year’s ICC World Twenty/20 tournament in the Caribbean will not get the opportunity to do so. At least not via a regional series.

On Saturday evening at the tournament’s ticket sales launch at Kensington Oval in Barbados, West Indies Cricket Board (WIBC) CEO Dr Ernest Hilaire confirmed this.

’I think it will be difficult between now and the tournament in April next year to have a 20/20 tournament,’ he told the invited regional media. ’I can say to you we will not have a 20/20 tournament before the 20/20 World Cup because there is already a schedule of matches up to that time.’

The last regional 20/20 series, put on by now incarcerated Texas billionaire Allen Stanford, was played in February of 2008 and won by Trinidad and Tobago, who last month went on to participate in and reach the final of the inaugural 20/20 Champions League in India.

Pressed as to why a tournament could not be put on ahead of the World 20/20, Hilaire claimed the international schedule would not allow it.

’We travel to Australia in the next couple of weeks, return at the end of the year. We start from January our regional four-day tournament that would last until the end of March. In between that, we will be traveling to Australia for the one-day series and then we host Zimbabwe and there is virtually no space for us to have a 20/20 tournament. ’

T&T’s Kieron Pollard, who last week was signed by Australian state South Australia to play in their Big Bash series starting in December, first came to the attention of the Caribbean public through Stanford 20/20. But the WICB CEO also disagreed that a regional series was the best way to prepare the Caribbean team for the world tournament.

He said: ’We will be playing 20/20 matches in Australia, as well as against Zimbabwe, so I’m saying to you, you do not need to have a regional 20/20 tournament for the team to prepare. We are trying to ensure the team plays enough 20/20 matches leading up to the 20/20 World Cup.’

The Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board, through now outgoing president Deryck Murray, had indicated a willingness to host a regional series next month. But the Express understands that no concrete proposals had been put forward. However, Hilaire said the lack of a regional 20/20 series will be addressed.

’One of the things we are doing at WICB now is a schedule of cricket until 2012 where we will actually create slots in the annual calendar to allow for our three regional tournaments-the four-day, the one-day and a 20/20 tournament, as well as ensuring we meet all our international commitments, creating space for each territorial board to have their own tournaments,’  he said.

’The challenge we are facing now is that there is so much cricket, and cricket is becoming so attractive for cricketers themselves, that we absolutely need to establish that schedule.’