The West Indies have managed to win only four home fixtures since 2019.
Former West Indies skipper Carl Hooper has taken a ruthless dig at the current head coach, Daren Sammy, after their thrashing defeat in the third Test match against Australia. Notably, Australia were already leading the red-ball series 2-0 while heading towards the final fixture at the Sabina Park, Jamaica. But the way they demolished the WI batting order for just 27 runs in the second innings has smashed the records and stunned the cricketing world.
“It’s been so disappointing. I’m angry, I’m upset,” the disheartened former player stated to ABC Sport.
The former West Indies all-rounder has called out the 41-year-old after their trouncing loss in the day-night Test against Australia. He believes that replacing the former head coach with Sammy in the red-ball format is one of the key reasons behind the team’s downfall in recent times.
“We were building something under the former head coach, Andre Coley. Then we removed him and brought in Daren Sammy, who was our white-ball coach. He’s now the all-format coach. We’ve got India coming up in a couple of months. We don’t have a few easy oppositions; it’s going to be tough,” he opined.
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Hooper also mentioned his concern for the upcoming challenges of the team, in the form of India and England. Notably, the Windies have recently secured a 10-wicket victory over England at home in 2022. But they are yet to defeat India in this format in recent times.
“Somebody’s got to be answerable. I think he also is the only selector. Just imagine someone who is picking the team and is also the head coach — he’s got all the power, so he’s got to be held accountable. I know you’re not going to remove him. You now want to host India and England, so where does West Indies cricket go from here? I don’t know,” stressed Hooper.
After the inauguration of the World Test Championship (WTC) cycle by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2019, team West Indies kicked off their campaign with a 2-0 series sweep by India at home. Since then, they have managed to win only four out of 18 matches on their home soil. They also finished the three WTC cycles so far in eight position out of nine teams.
The Caribbean team also holds a similar poor record in away Test matches with just four victories in 22 matches so far. Their only noteworthy performance in the format came against Australia, when they defeated the hosts by a narrow margin of eight runs in the pink-ball match last year to level the series 1-1.
However, Roston Chase and Co. will now compete in a five-match T20I series, starting on July 21, against the same opponents. They will next visit India for a two-match red-ball series, which will kick off on October 2 in Ahmedabad.
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