War
Chairman of Selectors
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2010
- Online Cricket Games Owned
West Indies cricket has suffered many horrible moments, since their well publicized decline after the 1995 home series against Australia. However the Sammy era of captaincy, especially in the test format has to go down as one of the most unedifying sagas during this dark era for the regional side.
People should never forget the frivolous manner in which Sammy became captain. He never earned the right to be skipper based on any domestic performances for the Windward Islands.
At the height of the players vs WICB vs WIPA controversy in 2010, two St Lucian's were running WICB (President Julian Hunte and Chief Executive Officer - Ernest Hilaire) and Sammy somehow got the captaincy, after Chris Gayle was unceremoniously removed.
From this point, Sammy became the most illegitimate captain in West Indies history since World War 2. His non merit and non cricket reasons rise, to the most distinguished position a Caribbean player can have, can only be compared the 1950s, when the then leaders of the cricket board appointed a procession of white captains, instead of allowing, the late great Sir Frank Worrell to lead to team earlier than famous 60/61 tour to Australia - just because he was black.
The aforementioned controversy with Gayle which saw him banned from Windies duty for a year along with issues with players such a Bravo and Pollard refusing to sign WICB contracts, showed how poorly the board run by Hilaire, adjusted to the T20 revolution worldwide.
As the recent International Cricket Council (ICC) revamp showed, India, England and Australia are the financial powerhouses off world cricket. Everybody other cricket national is weak financially. Therefore although the IPL has many faults, players from South Africa, Windies, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe would always jump at opportunity to cash in on the lofty financial remunerations that IPL/T20 leagues worldwide offered.
IPL/India has been messing up Windies cricket home/domestic cricket since it started in 2008. Imagine for the first time this year in history, the Windies will be playing New Zealand and Bangladesh during the rainy/hurricane seasons and during the month of September.
WICB has finally accepted that they can't fight the BCCI/India and have noticeably in the last two seasons prevented its international season from clashing with the IPL.
Going back to Sammy, His test record as captain was: 30 tests, 1032 runs, average 22.44 & 57 wickets, average 39.61. During his tenure, like the proverbial man with a short blanket on a cold night, the West Indies cricket team was constantly forced to either lighten its bowling or batting attack so as to include him.
In Sammy defence you got to feel sorry for him a bit in all of this. He didn't ask to be captain, he like any player who is given such an honour and he did the job to the best of his ability.
That?s why blame should be towards the selection panel for continuously picking him in tests - Sammy didn?t pick himself. Although Sammy could have followed what former Australian captain Kim Hughes versus the great Windies team in 1984 and just resign the test captaincy before the selectors wielded the axe.
Sammy also was not the blame for the batsmen?s inability in test cricket to construct big test innings and the overall mental fragility the team shows in the longer format, which has led the current West Indies team being labelled as just a ?T20 team?.
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IIRC according to the Pybus report by the new Windies director of cricket, this Sagicor team is essentially the new "A" team.
Based on some the the selections here, Braithwaite selection means it looks like Kieron Powell will be given a further chase for now to open with Gayle.
Certain young fast bowlers being picked here such as Cummins & Cottrell, probably means also a return for Jerome Tayor is imminent also Jason Holder may finally play tests.
----------
New Zealand in West Indies 2014 : McMillan joins New Zealand as batting coach | Cricket News | West Indies v New Zealand | ESPN Cricinfo
People should never forget the frivolous manner in which Sammy became captain. He never earned the right to be skipper based on any domestic performances for the Windward Islands.
At the height of the players vs WICB vs WIPA controversy in 2010, two St Lucian's were running WICB (President Julian Hunte and Chief Executive Officer - Ernest Hilaire) and Sammy somehow got the captaincy, after Chris Gayle was unceremoniously removed.
From this point, Sammy became the most illegitimate captain in West Indies history since World War 2. His non merit and non cricket reasons rise, to the most distinguished position a Caribbean player can have, can only be compared the 1950s, when the then leaders of the cricket board appointed a procession of white captains, instead of allowing, the late great Sir Frank Worrell to lead to team earlier than famous 60/61 tour to Australia - just because he was black.
The aforementioned controversy with Gayle which saw him banned from Windies duty for a year along with issues with players such a Bravo and Pollard refusing to sign WICB contracts, showed how poorly the board run by Hilaire, adjusted to the T20 revolution worldwide.
As the recent International Cricket Council (ICC) revamp showed, India, England and Australia are the financial powerhouses off world cricket. Everybody other cricket national is weak financially. Therefore although the IPL has many faults, players from South Africa, Windies, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe would always jump at opportunity to cash in on the lofty financial remunerations that IPL/T20 leagues worldwide offered.
IPL/India has been messing up Windies cricket home/domestic cricket since it started in 2008. Imagine for the first time this year in history, the Windies will be playing New Zealand and Bangladesh during the rainy/hurricane seasons and during the month of September.
WICB has finally accepted that they can't fight the BCCI/India and have noticeably in the last two seasons prevented its international season from clashing with the IPL.
Going back to Sammy, His test record as captain was: 30 tests, 1032 runs, average 22.44 & 57 wickets, average 39.61. During his tenure, like the proverbial man with a short blanket on a cold night, the West Indies cricket team was constantly forced to either lighten its bowling or batting attack so as to include him.
In Sammy defence you got to feel sorry for him a bit in all of this. He didn't ask to be captain, he like any player who is given such an honour and he did the job to the best of his ability.
That?s why blame should be towards the selection panel for continuously picking him in tests - Sammy didn?t pick himself. Although Sammy could have followed what former Australian captain Kim Hughes versus the great Windies team in 1984 and just resign the test captaincy before the selectors wielded the axe.
Sammy also was not the blame for the batsmen?s inability in test cricket to construct big test innings and the overall mental fragility the team shows in the longer format, which has led the current West Indies team being labelled as just a ?T20 team?.
----------
quote said:
IIRC according to the Pybus report by the new Windies director of cricket, this Sagicor team is essentially the new "A" team.
Based on some the the selections here, Braithwaite selection means it looks like Kieron Powell will be given a further chase for now to open with Gayle.
Certain young fast bowlers being picked here such as Cummins & Cottrell, probably means also a return for Jerome Tayor is imminent also Jason Holder may finally play tests.
----------
New Zealand in West Indies 2014 : McMillan joins New Zealand as batting coach | Cricket News | West Indies v New Zealand | ESPN Cricinfo
