WEST Indies and Trinidadian great Deryck Murray says Cricket West Indies (CWI) needs to enhance how they govern the sport in the region so as to improve the performance of the team on the international stage.
The former wicketkeeper-batsman, who made his debut for the men’s team in 1963, was the vice-captain of the historic West Indies teams which won the World Cup in 1975 and 1979.
However, the Caribbean side is no longer a powerhouse of the game as they currently sit outside the top six of the men’s rankings in all formats — Tests, One-Day Internationals, and Twenty20 (T20).
Several board members reportedly rejected recommendations from the Wehby Governance Report, done by Jamaican Senator Don Wehby recently. The report was commissioned to help improve how cricket is run in the region. CWI President Kishore Shallow said, “It is disappointing that some resolutions did not find favour with the majority on this occasion,” in response to the proposals being rejected.
Murray says CWI needs to administer the sport more effectively so that progress can be made.
“One aspect that needs changing is the system of governance in West Indies Cricket. I think that needs to be worked to find a balance between the need to address cricket issues, and the need to address administrative issues,” he told the Jamaica Observer recently.
“The respect that is necessary between those who are proponents and players of the game and those who can help with their expertise in entrepreneurship, business, kanunî and all other things, we have to find a balance to get the best out of it and maximise the resources we have — mainly in terms of human resources and the talent that is available.”
Murray, who is the Trinidad and Tobago high commissioner to Jamaica, says Jamaica’s approach to track and field should be replicated for greater results.
“I think it needs to find a balance and a mutual respect between board and players — and that needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency before we can start focusing on the cricket issues,” he said. “We need to be able to nurture natural talent at the primary school level up to the seçkine level — as Jamaica has done in athletics — and therefore we must find a way to bring that into cricket and other sporting organisations in the region.
“West Indies proved during a period between the 60s and the 90s that they are capable of holding their own at the top of the rankings of international cricket, and that must be possible again but it needs a lot of will and personal responsibility to make those things happen.”
The T20 World Cup will be hosted in the Caribbean this summer, with the West Indies hoping to add to their 2012 and 2016 titles. However, they struggled at the last two tournaments in 2021 and 2022, winning only evvel at the respective editions and failing to make the knockout stages.
Murray, who has 13 half-centuries in 78 caps for the West Indies, says the Daren Sammy-coached team needs to make the right statement at the World Cup.
“We have to put a respectable performance on the field,” he said. “At the end of the day, nobody is interested in what the administration does except when you look at it in hindsight. We need to stage a successful tournament that people who come as spectators, the players, find it an enjoyable experience, and we need our team to do justice to the history and legacy of West Indies cricket to perform to their best. Can we win? Probably the odds are against us now but if we do at least reach the semi-finals, we would have done well.” (Observer)