The reason why West Indies cricket continues to die a slow death
DARREN Sammy became the first St. Lucian to play test cricket for the West Indies senior team. He was subsequently elevated to the captaincy. At the time, Sammy had an average record for an all rounder, but we were told, “We are at the dawn of a new era in West Indies cricket, and we have entrusted the challenging job of captaincy to Darren Sammy because it is believed that he had demonstrated the attributes of a leader of this diverse group of men.” This was in 2010, and during this period, the WICB saw it fit to make him captain in all three formats, such was the faith they had in his leadership. During this period, the President of the WICB was Dr. Julian Hunte, also a St. Lucian.
Then in March 2013, Dr. Hunte lost out on the WICB Presidential elections to Jamaican Dave Cameron. Two months later, Darren Sammy was relieved of the ODI Captaincy. One year later, Sammy was relieved of the Test Captaincy. While he remains the T20 Captain, it begs the question: Why this sudden fall from cricketing grace.
Of course, the West Indies lost their last two series to India and New Zealand away from home, but this was after five consecutive test victories, a fact which was constantly being touted by the WICB ‘PR’ machinery.
After being dropped from the Test Captaincy position, Sammy promptly resigned from this format of the game. So, was the Captaincy position the only factor keeping a player in the test format of the game?
Based on the statement above, when he was selected Captain, it appears the WICB was well aware of this. Surely, then, they were aware that it was affecting the balance of the West Indies team, and as a result would affect their performance.
So, who should we blame for this shambolic management of the West Indies team over this period?
It cannot be only the Captain and former President of the WICB, for they alone were not involved in making these disastrous decisions. So who is the WICB accountable to, the ICC?
But what about the cricket stakeholders all across the region, who suffer because of the ineffective management of the WICB?
What system is there in place to hold these people accountable for their actions, as the ICC only deals with the WICB and no one else?
Concerns can only be raised through the WICB to the ICC; but, in this case, the WICB is the problem!
Therein lies our conundrum as to why West Indies cricket continues to die a slow death. I say no more!