PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – Players union chief Dinanauth Ramnarine has again reprimanded West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) chief executive Ernest Hilaire for his recent comments about the standard of regional players.
Speaking during the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) Awards Ceremony on Tuesday night, Ramnarine lashed out at Hilaire noting that the WICB had failed to provide adequate support for players.
“We should not accept what was said about the players by Ernest Hilaire. He mentioned that bling, money and instant gratification is what the players are about. We cannot help players by making derogatory statements about them,” Ramnarine said.
“It is the WICB who is responsible for putting things in place for the players to feel comfortable to perform and they are not doing this at present. Cricket is in a crisis and we need to work together with the WICB to make things better.”
Hilaire sparked a firestorm last week while speaking during a panel discussion, when he condemned the players’ pursuit of money for “instant gratification” and their lack of commitment. He was quoted as saying that the “notion of being a West Indian and what they (players) are playing for had no meaning to them, no meaning at all.”
However, Ramnarine said the region needed to back the players even though they were in a losing slump.
“The team may not be performing as well as they can right now but we cannot abandon them, we need to give them all the support we can …” said Ramnarine.
He reserved praise for the WICB for establishing the High Performance Centre which was opened last week in Barbados.
“I must commend the board for bringing on stream the High Performance Centre. This showed good vision and this Centre will go a long way to assisting the players, as they bid to take West Indies cricket back up the ladder.”