West Indies head coach Darren Sammy has offered a brutally honest assessment of the state of Test cricket in the Caribbean, calling its decline “a cancer in the system” that has been growing for decades. Speaking after his side’s heavy defeat to India in the first Test by an innings and 140-run loss, Sammy admitted that the lack of fight was disappointing but stressed that the problems were far deeper than recent results. “I mean last time we won a Test series in 1983, my mother had me,” he said light-heartedly before turning serious. “I know now I’m under the microscope. I’m in the middle, and we’re open to criticism, to be criticized by everybody. But the root of the problem didn’t start two years ago. It’s something that started way back,” he said, as quoted by PTI. He then delivered a striking analogy. “It’s like a cancer that’s already in the system. If you don’t get cancer, you know what happens. And, again, it’s breast cancer 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,” Sammy said. The two-time T20 World Cup-winning captain acknowledged that while players in the modern era have visible role models in shorter formats, Test cricket in the region has suffered from lack of infrastructure, financial support and motivation. “We could only work with what we have and who’s willing. The inability to match some of the franchises across the world has been an issue,” he said, adding that financial disparities between top nations and smaller boards have only widened. “The difference in the different teams, the top 3-4 teams in the world versus the bottom four. We’ve been struggling for finance for a long time,” Sammy noted. He also pointed out how the West Indies failed to capitalise commercially during their years of dominance. “We’re playing five Test matches, four months in one place. Entertaining the world where other boards benefited,” he said. “We are in need of those financial resources to help us grow and move forward.”
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Despite the challenges, Sammy remains hopeful of rebuilding a culture where players value Test cricket again. “When I call a player and tell him he’s been selected for West Indies, I’m hoping he accepts the selection,” he said.The West Indies will have a shot at redemption after the humbling result in Ahmedabad, as they take on India for the second Test in New Delhi starting October 10.
