Strained finances, infrastructural issues, the skewed economics of world cricket, the pressures of franchise cricket, and the effect of all these things on the talent pipeline that leads from the grassroots to the West Indies Test team. Last week’s innings defeat to India in Ahmedabad brought all these topics back into the spotlight.Various voices have called for financial support to help West Indies cricket address these issues. It has led others, in turn, to question why the ICC and other boards must step in to help. West Indies head coach Daren Sammy has a simple answer: West Indies helped the game grow immensely when they dominated world cricket from the 1970s to the 1990s but did not reap the financial rewards for it in the way that India, for example, have done over recent decades when the game has become far more lucrative.”Look, [it’s] the history we bring, or the history we have, and the legacy we have left on this game in all formats,” Sammy said, when posed this question two days out from the second Test in Delhi. “Obviously the way we play now, everybody will lean towards that. But if we take that aside, and understand the impact that the West Indies team have had in international cricket, I think all what we ask for, we deserve.Related
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“You know you speak to so many other teams. The inspiration that Vivian Richards’ team had, or the impact it had, even here in India, the impact these guys had on the next generation, West Indies contributed to that. I remember watching [West Indies playing] five Test-match series [around the world]. It’s like India now. Everybody wants India to tour, because that’s where the financial gains are. India brings that to the home territory. That was West Indies in the past.”But we did not reap those financial rewards. We were playing five Test matches, three-four months in one place, entertaining the world, where other parts benefited. So for now, when we, over the years, whether it be through lack of management, whatever it is, we are in need of those financial resources to help us grow and move forward, I think we deserve that. Because of the impact we’ve had.”West Indies lost the first Test against India by an innings•AFP/Getty Images
In the present moment, Sammy is aware he can only work with what is available to him in terms of the talent that’s ready to play Test cricket for the West Indies, and the facilities they presently have. He knows it’s unlikely that young players in the Caribbean will react to being picked for the West Indies team as he did back in 2004 when he learned of his selection to the ODI team when he was in the UK playing for an MCC Young Cricketers team.But Sammy feels there’s one area in which West Indies can and should still match other teams in: working hard and smart on their preparation.”For me as a coach, when I call a player and I tell him that he has been selected for West Indies, and I’m hoping that he accepts the selection, that tells us where our cricket is,” he said. “As a kid, I remember in 2004, me being at Lord’s, MCC Young Cricketers, and getting a call. Once I saw the area code 1268, I knew it was from Antigua, I was hoping it was a call from the West Indies Cricket Board, and how excited I was.”Times have changed. We [can] only work with what we have, and who’s willing. And the inability to match some of the franchises across the world [financially], it has been an issue.”But what I always tell these guys [is], if we complain about not having the best facilities, not having enough manpower like the other teams, not having the best technology, all these things which the other teams are superior to us [in], then why the hell are they still outworking us? The only way we could match up [and] compete at a consistent level is if we as the coaches and the players are prepared to outwork the opposition, and we’re not doing that.”So that’s where I’ve actually challenged them. When you practise, when you train, when you strategise, to be more precise, more purposeful. And I must say, again today, I’ve seen them starting to understand what we’re trying to do.”When Sammy, who had previously only been West Indies’ white-ball head coach, took over the Test team in April, the next three series they had lined up were against Australia at home, India away, and New Zealand away — all immensely challenging assignments. It has put in sharp focus the difficulty he has had as a coach in trying to establish a process-driven approach in the backdrop of constant external pressure stemming from results.”When I took on this Test job, I wanted to change the way we played, the results that we have,” Sammy said. “What we did was look at, especially from the batsmen, look at our most consistent batters in international cricket, whether it be T20, whether it be ODIs, whether it be Test matches, and put it together and see how best we could get a batting group. And that’s what we’ve done. It’s been, I think this will be the fifth Test match with that regime, and it’s not worked.”Mind you, when I look at the job I had, I saw Australia in the Caribbean, India in India, and New Zealand in New Zealand. I knew it was going to be very difficult. It will be probably the three most challenging series that we’ll have, whether it be home or away.”And I understand what we try to build. The director of cricket, the vision that we have, and also the players that we want to play. So I take all that into consideration. But what we cannot have, like I said is, against all the odds, the opposition is still outworking us. And that’s the biggest issue for me.”When I took on this Test job, I wanted to change the way we played, the results that we have”•Getty Images
“You don’t need talent to work hard. You don’t need talent to be motivated. It’s not a skill. The skill you need is to go and play. But the mindset. That’s what it takes. And I’m trying to continue to instil that in the guys.”Hopefully the guys who’ve gotten the opportunities [will start performing]. If it doesn’t work, obviously I’ve got to go back and see what’s there in the Caribbean. But again for me, dealing with all of that is just trusting the process. And don’t look at the result before the process has been executed.”West Indies’ long-running issues in Test cricket at a time when they have continually produced top-tier T20 talent, Sammy felt, had contributed to something like a self-perpetuating cycle of talent production in the Caribbean.”Growing up, we had heroes,” Sammy said. “[Brian] Lara, Sir Viv, [Curtly] Ambrose, [Courtney] Walsh, [Richie] Richardson. We had so many different heroes. Ian Bishop. So many, that me watching cricket with my father, I would say, ‘Oh, I want to be like this guy.'”There’s a challenge here now. I always challenge the guys [in the team], which kid in the Caribbean is watching you, and you are inspiring? If you notice, we’ve been, over the last decade, the format where the heroes come from has been the T20 format. And that’s why you see some of the direction in which the younger players are heading. That’s where the heroes are. That’s where they see people they want to be like from the Caribbean.”So it’s hard, but we will not stop trying, because winning builds and shows that it could be done, and we’ve not been able to do that for a long time.”The problems in West Indies cricket are so deep-rooted, and have taken root over so many years, Sammy felt, that he turned to a distressing metaphor for it: cancer.”I mean, the last time we won a series here in India, I was just born. My mom had just had me, in 1983. So the troubles that we have didn’t start now. In 1983, some great players were playing. So I know now I’m under the microscope, I’m in the middle, and we’re open to being criticised by everybody. But the root of the problem didn’t start two years ago. Something way back.”It’s like a cancer that’s already in the system. And you know, if you don’t beat cancer, you know what happens. And again, I think it’s Breast Cancer [Awareness] Month, so it’s a good way to put it, that our problems don’t lie on the surface. It’s rooted deep into our system. And that is something we will continue to change. The immediate thing is, try and encourage the guys, train better, better mindset and all these things. And hopefully steps could be taken in the right direction.”