West Indies cricket has gone from bad to worse

Jun 26, 2021 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

There is no doubt that cricket in the West Indies has gone from bad to worse so much so several diehard fans, including myself, have lost interest. I had to seek the assistance of my friend Philip Moniram Ramcharitar, a keen cricketer, to update me so I can pen this piece. As a journalist, I covered several test matches throughout the West Indies. I even witnessed one at cricket headquarters at Lords in London and the “million dollar match” in Antigua.
In my view, West Indies cricket problems started with Stanford T 20 cricket with the Texan billionaire dishing out millions to boost the game. After Stanford’s involvement came to an end, cricket boards, franchise clubs, sponsors have all invested in the T20 format of the game, and less in the first class (red ball) format and as such our young aspiring first class and potential Test cricketers are not being provided the proper coaching/training techniques that would gear them to develop their skills that would allow them to perform/compete at the highest level and against top cricket playing nations.
One of the main reasons for the longer version, it allows players to naturally develop their skills and prepares them for the challenges of Test match. East Canje native, Shimron Hetmyer, is a victim of the limited number of first class cricket being played anywhere in Berbice. Hetmyer has never batted an entire day innings match because there is no first division or inter-county cricket. Leonard Baichan, an East Canje born player, enjoyed long innings in Davsons Cup and inter-county cricket. He made a century and a double century in a match…not out in both innings.
West Indies lost two Test matches to South Africa in two and a half and three and a half days respectively. Their next Test match will be against a solid Pakistan side who destroyed South Africa in the recent test series played in Pakistan. It does not seem to me that the West Indies coaches, selectors and officials have any concrete plans.
The players failed to score more than 200 runs in any of the last four innings. This is pathetic. Pakistan is due in the Caribbean next month to play 5 T20 and two test matches between July 21 and August 24. Let’s hope Coach Phil Simmons, captains, Kieron Pollard, and Kraigg Brathwaite work out ways and means to defeat the tourists in order to stop the constant defeat against the Caribbean squad. It is unfortunate that West Indies cricket has deteriorated rapidly during the past decades. Former Jamaican Prime Minister, P. J. Patterson, a cricket lover, has called for a complete overhaul of the structure of the game in the region.

Oscar Ramjeet former Secretary of the Berbice Cricket Board

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West Indies cricket has gone from bad to worse

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