ttgapers.com

West Indies skipper Brian Lara apologised to the Caribbean people yesterday for his team’s dismal performance in the current Cricket World Cup. His comments came after the West Indies suffered their fourth successive defeat in the Super-8s yesterday, effectively ending their chances of qualifying for the semi-finals.

South Africa hammered the hosts by 67 runs at the Queen’s Park Stadium in Grenada.



Lara said: “We must say sorry to the people of the Caribbean for the dismal performances in this World Cup. Chasing 357 runs for victory against South Africa was always going to be difficult and the boys tried their best but fell short.



“We still have to look forward and with two games still to play, we have to now play for pride. I guess fans in the Caribbean will now have to choose their team for the finals and we are sorry that we are out of it.”



President of the T&T Cricket Board (TTCB) and WICB director Deryck Murray said it is time that people stop saying that our players have talent and get down to the business of nurturing it.



“We must first take a long, hard look at the players on an individual basis and see where we want to take this team as far as the future is concerned. Our next assignment is in England and there are things that we can do to improve our play. For example one of the things that can be done is to look at the players attitude and overall discipline level and work with them.



“We must also stop saying that we have talented players and leave it at that. We need to work with the guys, nurture their talent because every cricketing nation has talented players - not just West Indies.



“Another thing we must desist from is talking development. We must go out there and work with the players and put a long-term development strategy in place to achieve what we want.



“The under-15 tournament recently ended and we must start with these players and work with them to ensure that our next generation of West Indies cricketers turns out to be competitive.”



Veteran West Indies commentator, Tony Cozier said that the team has failed the people of the Caribbean and the West Indies Cricket Board must also share in the blame.



“The West Indies team never got better as the tournament progressed. The intensity in their play was never there and they were really going nowhere. The team looked flat and was never really competitive.



“The West Indies Board is also to blame as there was no fielding coach attached to the team, no bowling coach, no trainer and strong management was not evident.



“Government leaders were also coming up to me and telling me that the players were seen late at nights out at clubs, partying. This sent the wrong message to the people of the Caribbean.”



Former West Indies under-19 captain Colin Murray put the blame on Australian-born coach Bennett King. “This man has been with this team for quite a while and has achieved nothing. I am squarely putting the blame for this pathetic display on coach Bennett King.”



“This man took the team from Gus Logie when we had just won the Champions Trophy and what has he done with it since—absolutely nothing. I am saying that Bennett King must be removed from the position of coach. The only thing that can save him is if by some miracle the team goes on and wins the World Cup.”



Manager of the T&T team Omar Khan said he was very hurt by the performances of the team. “I was in Jamaica for the first game and I was very happy with what I saw. The team was united and team spirit was at an all-time high. Then I went down to the Guyana game and what I saw there left me disheartened. The team looked divided and lacked focus.”



Khan said an investigation into the set-up and functioning of the West Indies Board must be conducted in order to put things right. “The West Indies Cricket Board must realise that cricket is a business. It must be a business operation and make players and management accountable for poor performances. At the moment there is no accountability in West Indies cricket.



“Other international teams are way ahead of us because of this and we must start thinking in a businesslike manner.”



T&T Cricket Board (TTCB) executive member Patrick Rampersad said a full scale investigation must be launched by the WICB at the end of the tournament to try and improve this dark period of West Indies cricket. “Clearly there is no chemistry in this team and the players looked divided. When this is the case the performance would not be up to standard.”