Word that international cricket boards, including Cricket West Indies, are now striving to get their cricketers home from India and Pakistan reminds us of life’s extreme uncertainties.

When the 2025 multi-billion-US-dollar Indian Premier League (IPL) and the less lucrative Pakistan Super League (PSL) started weeks ago, organisers would not have contemplated that decades-old tensions would have boiled over, bringing the Asian neighbours to the brink of full-blown war.

But that’s where we are now. In late April, militants carried out an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir leaving at least 26 people dead.

Since then, an air attack by India on the Pakistan side of Kashmir, followed by cross-border shelling from the Pakistan side (with the Pakistani Government denying responsibility) have caused more bloodshed and an escalating crisis.

The IPL, now approaching its final stages, has been suspended — initially for a week. From this distance it appears that any chance of the tournament resuming hangs by a mere thread.

The PSL, which was scheduled to end on May 18, has been postponed indefinitely after plans to relocate to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were scrapped.

If all goes well, a few of the players returning home from Asia will be part of West Indies white-ball squads to visit Ireland and England starting later this month and into June.

That tour will mark the first opportunity for Mr Shai Hope to take on the role of captain of both One-Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 (T20) West Indies teams.

Readers will recall that Mr Hope, incumbent ODI captain, was assigned the T20 role, replacing Mr Rovman Powell in late March.

We should make no mistake, this tour of Ireland and England will be a tough challenge for the West Indies.

Regardless of the results, we welcome the opportunity being given to exciting 18-year-old Antiguan Mr Jewel Andrew to gain valuable experience in alien conditions as part of the ODI squad.

Powerful Australia’s much-anticipated all-format tour of the Caribbean, including three Test matches, will follow in June. And, there is considerable chatter about who will lead the West Indies following the resignation of Mr Kraigg Brathwaite as Test captain.

Mr Brathwaite, who has indicated he wants to concentrate on his core job as opening batsman, walked away as skipper following a satisfying 1-1 series result away to Pakistan late last year.

News reports suggest that six players have been interviewed with a view to West Indies captaincy. They are Trinidadian wicketkeeper/batsman Mr Joshua Da Silva, Guyanese Mr Tevin Imlach who impressed as wicketkeeper on the tour of Pakistan replacing Mr Da Silva, Barbadian all-rounder Mr Roston Chase, Jamaica captain and opener Mr John Campbell, Barbadian all-rounder Mr Justin Greaves, and Barbadian left-arm spinner Mr Jomel Warrican.

Of interest, all six did well in the recent West Indies four-day championship. Mr Imlach not only excelled with the bat, scoring three centuries, he led his country to the regional title.

It seems to us that the upcoming trip to the Caribbean by South Africa ‘A’, which will include two four-day games against their West Indies counterparts early next month, presents an ideal opportunity to prepare the new Test captain for the series against Australia.

Whoever gets what is perhaps the toughest job in regional sport will need all possible support. We wish him well.