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“We
want our team to be Number One both in performance and emoluments.
However, if we do not start winning, we run the risk of
being relegated and we will not be able to earn the money
that we require to regain our place at the pinnacle of world
cricket.”
West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president
Julian Hunte
ST
JOHN’S – West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president
Julian Hunte has lashed out at the West Indies team’s
performance, insisting that the players do better to earn
their tidy salaries.
Expressing concern that continued weak performances could
relegate the Caribbean side to a “second division”
team in international cricket, Hunte declared that the West
Indies must improve.
So far this year, West Indies had a moderate series against
Sri Lanka before losing to Australia in the Test and One
Day International (ODI) series.
The WICB president pointed out that although the West Indies
players are the third best paid—after England and Australia—in
world cricket, they are ranked No.8, and he said their performances
are inconsistent with the emoluments they receive.
“We
want our team to be Number One both in performance and emoluments.
However, if we do not start winning, we run the risk of
being relegated and we will not be able to earn the money
that we require to regain our place at the pinnacle of world
cricket.”
Hunte, who is now attending a meeting of the Executive Board
of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in Dubai, said
that recent events have made it clear that if the West Indies
team does not improve its performances, it runs the risk
of being put in a special category with the other two lowest
ranked teams -- Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.
“The
West Indies Team has to start winning matches against higher
ranked opponents or we will end up being relegated to being
a second division international team,” Hunte said in
a WICB release on Wednesday.
“We
need to synchronise all our various efforts and plans to
achieve the short-term objective of getting higher up in
the rankings. We have to widen our pool of talent, have
a clearly stated and objective selection philosophy, increase
the amount of cricket played at the regional level, and
improve the standard of the players and teams in our tournaments,
and we must do it all very quickly. If not, we will
not be creating history, as we did in the past. We
will be history,” Hunte stated.
In the strongly worded release that describes the region’s
cricket as being in a “crisis”, the WICB said
it is about to tackle the team’s management, specifically
coach John Dyson, about plans to improve the team.
“The
Board, at its next meeting on July 24–25, 2008, will
deal with what Dr Hunte considers a crisis in West Indies
cricket and will ask the Team Management, specifically coach
John Dyson, how they plan to improve the technical skills
of the players to make them more competitive and improve
the world ranking of the team,” the release stated.
The release also announced that a new selection panel is
to be appointed.
“The
Board will consider recommendations from the Cricket Committee
for a new Selection Panel, the contracts of the present
members of the panel having expired on June 30, 2008,”
the release stated.
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