KINGSTON: The West Indies Cricket Board has publically reprimanded Captain Darren Sammy after his criticism in the wake of his side’s victory over England in the ICC World T20 final.
Sammy said in his post-match interview that his team felt ‘disrespected by our board’, referring to the lengthy pay dispute that had put their participation in the tournament in jeopardy.
“The President (Whycliffe Cameron) would like to apologise for what could be deemed inappropriate, comments made by the West Indies’ male captain, Darren Sammy in a post-match interview and would like to apologize on behalf of the WICB, to the millions of fans who witnessed (sic),” read a statement.
“The President has pledged to enquire the reason and will have the matter addressed.” Cameron had already appeared to take offence at Sammy’s remarks by Tweeting: “When is the last time a critic paid one of your bills? Always remember that when you start to give them your energy.”
The WICB, however, also used its statement to reveal it wanted to meet with West Indies players after this year’s IPL – in which may of the country’s World T20 winners are due to play – to seek “common ground” and ensure the stars are more regularly available for international games.
“We are fully aware of the financial rewards on offer in the lucrative international T20 leagues, but we believe deeply in the importance of cricket to the people of the region and of West Indies cricket’s place in world cricket.
“It is therefore a priority to have all of our players competing and available for selection.” West Indies players will share the entire $1.6 million prize money for winning the men’s World Twenty20 title as well as a portion of sponsorship revenue, the head of the region’s cricket board told Reuters on Sunday.
But WICB chief executive Michael Muirhead says his organisation should take some of the credit for the West Indies’ success in India, with the nation’s women’s side also beating Australia in their World T20 final.
“All I can say is, it wasn’t by chance that this happened,” he said. “We put in a lot of preparations and spent a lot of time in getting both teams ready for this tournament.
“We have a lot more to do and we will just have to intensify those efforts to make sure that those plans are institutionalised and rolled out across the region, so we have the production of good players through the systems we are putting in place.”
