AFTER the West Indies’ poor showing in the recent Test series against Australia, where they lost the second Test by 419 runs, calls continue to come for heads to roll for how badly the team performed.

Former West Indies wicketkeeper Deryck Murray joined his cousin former Windies youth player Colin Murray in calling for others to follow coach Phil Simmons’ lead and resign from their positions in West Indies cricket.

Talking on the “Andrew and Friends” radio talk show in Barbados on Tuesday, he said: “We are not to assume that one man Phil Simmons is responsible for the decline in West Indies cricket. I keep looking to see if others will follow suit, but nothing like that has happened so far.”

While the other Murray (Colin) was referring to the assistant coaches (Monty Desai – batting coach, Roddy Estwick – bowling coach) resigning, Murray (Deryck) was looking to the administration.

He said: “It starts with the administration. The entire system” of administration needs to change.

Deryck Murray, a former World Cup winner said while West Indies cricket has been very poor in recent times, he hinted that the decline started while they were still on top of the cricket world.

“I can say to you it started in the late 1980s. When you started having things like West Indies Cricket Board Incorporated, which became a little private company; when you run (cricket administration) like a private company, run by private people; that’s where the decline started. We started to lose in 1993 -1995 but it was on the cards (since the Eighties).”

He added that West Indies cricket was destroyed by a system that was put in place that was not “for the benefit of West Indies cricket”.

Deryck Murray, a former T&T Cricket Board president did not stop at Cricket West Indies (CWI), he also laid blame on the territorial boards.

He said: “The way the territorial boards are being run at the moment leaves a lot to be desired. It appears that people are holding on to their positions in the hope that they would be there when the hopeful turnaround occurs. They are “square pegs in round holes”.

He added that while the organisation does need specialty positions such as lawyers and accountants etc, he called for “a core of cricket people” to be in key responsible positions overseeing West Indies cricket.

Another former West Indies wicketkeeper, Peter Jeffrey Dujon, shared his thoughts on the batting in the just concluded series where the regional side lost 2-0.

He said: “We don’t have batters who are good enough to dominate, but they are good enough to stick around if they apply themselves properly.” (Extracted from Trinidad Guardian)