West Indies batting great Brian Lara is pained at the current state of the once-powerful side for whom he made nearly 12,000 Test runs. He has questioned the passion that the current crop of players have to represent the Caribbean region. West Indies coach Daren Sammy agrees to the argument in spirit, and feels that his players need to make a statement on the pitch to prove otherwise.
After his side’s innings defeat inside three days in Ahmedabad last week, skipper Roston Chase cut a frustrated figure when he bemoaned the current state of West Indies, blaming lack of funding and talent drain towards lucrative franchise cricket. But ahead of the second Test starting in New Delhi on Friday, Sammy was said that while all these factors were at play, they shouldn’t become excuses for poor performances.
“Guess what? We never had the world’s best facilities, but in the past, we dominated world cricket for 17 years at a stretch,” Sammy told The Indian Express on the sidelines of West Indies’ training session at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Wednesday.
When the former West Indies skipper took the job of coach of the national side across formats late last year, along with being one of the team’s selectors, he faced the unenviable task of reviving his region’s cricketing fortunes. He knows that his contribution will be under the spotlight, but is not shying away from the responsibility.
“I know that things have to get better (for cricket in West Indies). But the onus is on us; not just the players, but also the coaches and the support staff to make the best of what we have. It is my job to keep on inspiring and motivating the group, to find ways to make the guys consistent,” Sammy said.
He pointed to recent batting collapses – most prominent among them being all out for 27 in a Test against Australia in Jamaica earlier this year, and failure to breach 200 in either innings in Ahmedabad – as examples of the improvement that needs to be made.
“Our (batting) has been poor. The mindset has to be different. The mindset prepares the skillset. If you’re not prepared to work hard, you get nowhere,” he said. “A quick example: Shubman Gill, in 2021, you could see he had an obvious deficiency against the ball coming back (into the stumps/pads). In 2025, you don’t see those same problems, he is a much better player. We have got guys getting out the same way they were three or four years ago.”
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Later, while addressing the press conference, Sammy would delve deeper into some of the issues West Indies cricket is facing.
“The problems don’t just start now, they are like cancer, deep-rooted into the system,” he said.
Once again, he shifted attention to the controllables.
“Despite all our problems, we must be prepared to outwork the opposition. The immediate fix is to train harder. You don’t need talent to work hard,” he added.
