Constant changes affect WI abilities

Cricket West Indies (CWI) President, Ricky Skerritt said that the constant changes in personnel in West Indies cricket over the past two decades have not led to positive results on the cricket field.

He said the changes have caused the regional cricket body to spend excessively.

Skerritt was at the time paying tribute to former West Indies Captain Sir Frank Worrell, the first black captain of the West Indies team at the 20^th Annual Frank Worrell Memorial Lecture hosted by the University of the West Indies (UWI), Cave Hill Campus, Barbados.

He noted that Sir Frank transformed the regional team into a competitive unit and may not be pleased with the results of West Indies cricket over the past 20 years.

The CWI president also said the regular changes in the West Indies squads may have led to a decline in performances.

Since 2000, there have been 15 changes made at the head coaching position of the men’s team and several coaching positions within the West Indies Women’s team over the past seven changes, Skerritt noted.

The longest-serving West Indies men’s coach over the last 20 years was Ottis Gibson, who held the position from 2010 to 2014.

He said these changes have cost West Indies millions.

Skerritt, who has been CWI president since March 2019, said the CWI spent “a quarter billion US dollars on our players, coaches and full-time staff during the past 20 years.”

He said the figure does not include “the cost of travel, sustenance and housing our many coaches, players and administration support people when on tour.”