In a scathing attack on the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), West Indian all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has lashed out at the cricket board’s behaviour towards the players, calling it ‘the most unprofessional board in the world.’
Taking a special liking to the WICB President Dave Cameron, Bravo called him an ‘arrogant,’ ‘small-minded,’ and an ‘immature’person and heavily criticized the way he and the people of his own brethren treated the cricketers.
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He was speaking to CNC3, a television network based in Trinidad and Tobago, during an interview through Skype.
Bravo and the WICB have a long standing history, which dates back to October 2014, the West Indies cricket team, then led by Bravo, had pulled out of an ongoing tour of India over a payment dispute.
Consequently, the Trinidadian was suspended from the team, has not featured in an ODI since, lost his central contract, and was even removed as the captain of the domestic side Trinidad and Tobago for the one-day championship.
We’ve had enough as players: Bravo
The all-rounder did not find anything new in being victimised by the board and also mentioned that he won’t be surprised if the West Indies T20 captain Darren Sammy was reprimanded for his post-match comments after the team lifted the World T20 trophy for the second time.
Sammy had said after the victory, “I'm yet to hear from our own cricket board. That is very disappointing.”
He continued, “For today, I'm going to celebrate with these 15 men and coaching staff. I don't know when I'm going to be playing with these guys again because we don't get selected for one-day cricket.”
Following these comments the WICB sent out a media release stating that it would look into the comments made by the team captain and necessary action would be initiated.
“No, I was not surprised [by Sammy's comments]. We had enough as players,” Bravo said. “Too much times people come down on the players. They questioned our commitment, they questioned whether we were really committed to West Indies cricket or is it just the money.
“A lot of people don't understand the things we go through as players dealing with our board. It is the most unprofessional board in the world to me. Sammy spoke from his heart. There is nothing wrong with Sammy's speech and I support Darren Sammy 100%.”
WICB never listened to the players
Bravo also accussed the WICB of never listening to what the players had to say. “The board refused to listen to what we have to say. It reached a point where we can't take it no more and that itself encouraged us to go out there and win despite all the challenges we have,” he continued.
“Even our own board did not think we were going to win the tournament. We are yet to hear from the president, yet to hear from the CEO, yet to hear from the director of cricket. I mean how can you represent the region, and the people who are supposed to be your bosses and in charge of you don't even wish you well, don't even support you.”
Despite all of his resentment, the WICB appears to have worn a thick skin, as not ony has it failed to coordinate with the players, but it has also retaliated against them on social media. Immediately after Sammy’s emotional speech after the World T20 final, David Cameron tweeted, “When is the last time a critic paid one your bills? Always remember that when you start to give them your energy.”
“I'm not surprised by the president's tweet, to be honest, because it is expected of him. He is someone very immature,” said Bravo of Cameron.
“Two years ago when we had the problems on the India tour, [Kieron] Pollard and myself had been blatantly victimised for whatever reason. That is their way of dealing with situations. They are very small-minded people, especially the president as I said before. There is nothing much he can do again.”
West Indies Cricket not in safe hands
Regardless of the treble of ICC Championships this year-- the Under-19 World Cup, and the ICC Men’s and Women’s World T20-- Bravo is far from assured that West Indies cricket is in safe hands.
“Our cricket has gone to the lowest. Yes, we won the World Cup, the women won the World Cup. Also the Under-19s won the World Cup.
“But that doesn't mean to say our cricket is in good hands. It is not. We definitely need help and the board needs to answer for some of the things that have been going on.
“It is tough times and I could only see getting worse because the board is going to retaliate with hate and anger, and they don't think as adults and mature people with common sense. They always try to react with some kind of victimisation or trying to do something to victimise the players or take action against players,” he concluded.
West Indies’ World T20 victory has been seen as a positive sign as far as their cricket is concerned, and it is believed that theinspiration gained from this win might help in theimprovement of relations between the board and the players.
However, by the looks of it, the possibilities of such a thing happening look very bleak.
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