West Indies cricket legend Brian Lara has slammed the Windies cricket board for not making the right moves to keep players loyal to the Caribbean cricket fraternity. Lara cited the example of Nicholas Pooran, who announced his shock retirement from international cricket recently, aged 29, and said that the players cannot be faulted for opting to make the most of their limited years at their prime in the sport for lucrative franchise league contracts.
Lara, who remains the prolific Caribbean batter in international cricket with 22,260 runs said that the West Indies’ board’s failure in incentivising their star players has led them to the steep decline, exemplified by a harrowing 27 all out to Australia in Jamaica this week, their lowest-score in Test history.
“You have a lot of guys who are deciding on what to do with their careers. You have your aggressive players like Pooran, who retired at 29. And honestly, it’s pretty clear why they did. There are five or six leagues around the world, and they’re able to make a substantial amount of money playing in them,” Brian Lara said on the ‘Stick to Cricket’ podcast alongside former England players Phil Tuffnell, David Lloyd, Michael Vaughan and Alastair Cook.
“I have no problem with that. The truth is, I don’t think the West Indies Cricket Board or the administration has done anything meaningful to keep players loyal to West Indies cricket, unlike what boards in countries like England, Australia, or even India have done,” he added
“So naturally, our players are going to look elsewhere. And when you see players like Kane Williamson or even South Africans making similar choices, you understand that these guys are just trying to provide for their families.”
Following Pooran’s retirement, T20 heavyweight Andre Russell has also announced his decision to retire from the international circuit, just six months out from the next T20 World Cup. The 37-year-old Russell is set to bid goodbye after the upcoming two T20Is against Australia.
WICB calls on Lara, Lloyd and Richards to manage crisis
On Tuesday, following the team’s ignominious 0-3 series defeat to Australia, Cricket West Indies president Dr Kishore Shallow said that the board will have an emergency meeting to review the series.
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Shallow confirmed that invitations were sent out to Sir Clive Lloyd, Sir Vivian Richards, and Lara for the meeting to help West Indies wade through the struggle. “This engagement is not ceremonial. These are men who helped define our golden eras, and their perspectives will be invaluable as we shape the next phase of our cricket development. We intend for this gathering to result in tangible, actionable recommendations,” he added.
