vinode.mamchan@guardian.co.tt
Former West Indies fast bowler Adam Sanford says that the fire that once drove West Indies cricketers to play for positive results no longer exists, that "fire" is out and the players are taking things for granted based on the recent results we are seeing.
The Windies went down to Bangladesh by an innings and 186 runs yesterday losing the Test series 2-0 and sparking a fresh round of criticism from around the region about the players.
Sanford, who lives in St. Maarten said, “The more we think that we are around the corner as far as our cricket is concerned, the more we realise it is not so. Our players are going into Test cricket too complacent. When we hear Bangladesh, we take it lightly but what we have to realise is that they have developed and put the work in, and now they are reaping the rewards."
Sanford continued his analysis, “We are still depending on natural talent. We can’t compete with just natural talent, it has not worked, and it would not work now.”
Stanford is calling for grassroots cricket to be the foundation for growth in our cricket. He said, “Grassroots cricket is what we need. Get into the schools because if you don’t like something from small, you would not prosper with it when you grow up. At the moment the fire is out, players are taking things for granted and they need to come up to par.”
Former West Indies manager Omar Khan says that the loss is painful for him. “For all the passionate West Indies supporters this performance is an all-time low. Imagine Bangladesh beating us by an innings inside three days. Cricket West Indies has got to really take a long realistic examination of what is required to get our cricketers to have an appreciation of the fight, determination, passion and application required to at least show some fight in games. I don't mind losing but at least show some fight. We do not see this at all from our current crop of Test players."
Khan, a former manager of Red Force and the Amazon Warriors, said, “It is painful for me personally knowing that our players have the talent, but there seems to be no real strategic plan to work on the players applying themselves to different situations."
Former national cricketer turned commentator Imran Jan is suggesting that CWI look at coaching. “Maybe the board should look at having some meaningful grassroots development programme. I don’t think that the current Scotiabank grassroots programme is working. We need to have these programmes in all the primary schools. Let’s start there. We need to make the physical education time in schools meaningful. Some teachers don’t even use it anymore, and we see the results.”