By Rohansonn Waithe
Twenty-seven! That’s the magic number if you ask Australia.
Never in my wildest nightmares could I imagine our beloved West Indies dismantled and dismissed for a score the same as my age.
The humiliation of West Indies being downed for 27, the second lowest Test total ever, is being felt all across the Caribbean and the diaspora.
It almost doesn’t feel real.
But this is as real as it gets for West Indies cricket or Cricket West Indies (CWI).
To CWI president Dr Kishore Shallow, Director of Cricket Miles Bascombe, Chief Executive Officer Chris Dehring, head coach Daren Sammy, the team, as well as the territorial boards, here are 27 questions for you.
1. Will 27 be the catalyst for change or will there be 27 more years of the same?
- Why was Test coach Andre Coley’s contract not renewed at the end of his tenure, given the fight, progress and results shown under his stewardship?
- Given the removal of selectors and their selection process, why was new head coach Daren Sammy allowed to make wholesale changes to the Test team which won their last match in Pakistan?
- What is now the West Indies selection criteria given the total removal of selection panels?
- Why have you sanctioned and allowed the proliferation of Dream11 T10 leagues in the Caribbean when we continue to have a batting crisis?
- Has any thought been given to extending an offer of West Indies selection to eligible overseas players such as Daniel Bell-Drummond and Emilio Gay in England, as well as Oliver Davies in Australia to help strengthen our team?
- What can be done about the apparent inability to produce satisfactory cricket pitches across the Caribbean?
- Is there a plan or a way to up-skill and educate our curators and grounds staff?
- Why have we not reverted to the home and away format in the regional four-day West Indies Championship?
- Aside from the emergency meeting, what emergency measures will be utilised to address the batting crisis in the region?
- How do we improve the fitness of both our men’s and women’s cricketers?
- Can any pressure, or pleading, be put towards the sport’s governing body for an increase in funding for the region?
- Can any pressure, or pleading, be put towards regional governments to pay their debts to CWI?
- CWI funds the territorial boards. How is the issue of financial misconduct with the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board being handled?
- Will we seek any improvements in Test cricket or are we better off investing in the shorter formats of the game?
- How do you see the proposed two-tier Test cricket model affecting West Indies cricket?
- Why has the Combined, Campuses, and Colleges (CCC) team become a free-for-all rather than being used for its initial purpose of elevating student-cricketers?
- If CWI does not have the power to mandate and regulate cricket in local territories, then how will the disconnect between local boards and CWI ever be removed?
- Is it CWI’s or the local territorial board’s responsibility to create relevant grassroots programmes?
- Let’s say a territorial board does nothing at all, what can CWI actually do about that situation?
- Why don’t the individual territorial boards see themselves as CWI when they do in fact make up CWI?
- Will there be any changes, hiring or firing, to coaching and/or management staff?
- Aside from financial constraints, what challenges does CWI face in developing cricket in the region?
- Will there now be a stricter approach to the approval of No-Objection Certificates so that players can focus on regional and West Indies duty?
- Shai Hope is unlikely to be the long-term wicket-keeping option. Why wasn’t Tevin Imlach given an opportunity in the Australia series?
- Cricket is the region’s top sport. How can this position be solidified given the rise of other sports in the region?
- What is taking the Barbados Cricket Association so long to create a professional league?
West Indies as a team should not be playing any form of international cricket. The next five years should be used just to get players ready.