The West Indies cricketers have been the most sought-after in the T20 franchise leagues around the world. Their flamboyant and distinct style suited this format and it’s no surprise that they have been world champions twice — 2012 and 2016.

But their clamour to play in the financially rewarding franchise leagues often came at the cost of ignoring their national interests. On Friday after their unfortunate exit from the World Cup and failure to make the Super 12, captain Nicholas Pooran expressed disappointment and admitted that the team had let down its fans.

Not long ago, West Indies head coach Phil Simmons said he couldn’t “beg his players” to consider representing the country as their first preference. It “hurt” his pride but he could do little to prevent the exodus.

The West Indies were forced to field a second-string side in Australia after the likes of Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard retired, while Andre Russell and Sunil Narine were overlooked. Also absent from the squad for varying reasons were Oshane Thomas, Fabian Allen and Roston Chase. To top it all, left-hand batter Shimron Hetmyer was replaced in the squad after missing his flight to Australia.

“If guys are choosing franchises over the West Indies, then we have to pick from who all are available to us... you must realise that the guys have options now,” chief selector Desmond Haynes has been pragmatic.

However, all of it can’t be blamed on the players alone. Narine, arguably still the best T20 bowler on the circuit, has spoken about “behind-the-scenes stuff”, thereby hinting about unhealthy atmosphere in the camp.

“There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff going on, which I don’t really want to get into, but I mean, everybody would love to represent their country,” Narine said recently.

Since winning their last title at the Eden Gardens, West Indies have lost six of the eight matches they have played in T20 World Cups. This team has repeatedly struggled with their batting and bowling.

They have repeatedly failed to get the basics right and it would be naive to put the blame solely on the players’ inclination to play franchise cricket. Despite central contracts, players have been forced to shun national interests with Jason Holder the only one with an all-format contract.

“I don’t know (if there are short-term fixes). We’ve got to go back and look at our structure and how we play the game and make sure that when we come to competitions and when we play in bilateral series we are ready and able to do what’s necessary for each situation of the game,” Simmons said on Friday.

Perhaps this could be time for the administrators to take a hard look at the system and compel the players to put the nation’s interest first.

Brief scores: WI 146/5 in 20 overs (Brandon King 62 n.o.). Ireland 150/1 in 17.3 overs (Paul Stirling 66 n.o.). Ireland won by 9 wickets.