West Indies cricket, the one-time nucleus of fiery speedsters and classy batsmen, has run out of gas in the last few years
Curtly Ambrose, Sulieman Benn
Curtly Ambrose with current West Indian cricketer Sulieman Benn
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West Indies cricket, the one-time nucleus of fiery speedsters and classy batsmen, has run out of gas in the last few years. With the players' focus shifting to Twenty20 cricket along with monetary troubles hounding the home cricket board, their authority has slipped in Tests and ODI matches. This 26-minute episode, conducted by cricket analyst Simon Hughes and journalist Simon Mann, delves deeper into this predicament and possible solutions. What is the reason behind the sudden decline of the Caribbean heroes?
West Indian pace great Curtly Ambrose helps the gentlemen deconstruct the problems. "The West Indies Cricket Board cannot compete with the finances available from the lucrative Twenty20 tournaments all around the world. It is difficult to have your strongest team due to such competitions. You lose your best players there, and there are no seniors to nurture the youngsters," says the 53-year-old, who, in his playing years, was a nightmare for batsmen. "Jason Holder, the current skipper has played 50 ODI matches and he is the senior-most. It shows the inexperience of the team. I believe our players should be more flexible. They should be available for regional tournaments, in order to be eligible for selection in the national team," he adds.
Most of their star players, which include Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo, have their schedules packed in Twenty20 leagues, much to the disdain of the selectors. But the times are different, the shortest format rules the roost and is likely to be the future of cricket. What do you think?
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