Former West Indies wicket-keeper Shane Dowrich is taking legal action against Cricket West Indies (CWI) seeking US$172,000 in special damages for being wrongfully determined to be ineligible to play for the West Indies in Test Matches between February 2021 and August 2022. CWI has been served with the lawsuit, sources told Sportsmax.TV on Tuesday.

In late 2020, the 32-year-old wicketkeeper/batsman, who represented the West Indies in 35 Tests and one ODI, suffered a finger injury while on a tour of New Zealand. He was subsequently granted permission to leave the tour for "personal reasons".

However, according to the suit filed in court in Barbados, CWI failed to follow up with the player to determine whether he had managed to put his ‘personal issues' behind him and was ready to resume representing the regional side. CWI, it is being claimed, failed to have him evaluated by a doctor when he indicated that he was ready to return to play.

Dowrich, who was on a US$150,000 central contract at the time, had his contract rescinded presumably because he had missed the number of games required to qualify. This resulted in his earnings being significantly reduced.

The diminutive Barbadian was recently recalled to the West Indies ODI squad for their series against England in December but withdrew from the squad after announcing his retirement from international cricket mere days before the first game.

Cricket West Indies has until the end of February to file a defence to the lawsuit with the first court date set for April.

Calls to CWI CEO Johnny Grave went unanswered up to the point of publication.