Melbourne, November 15: John Dyson, who was recently sacked as West Indies coach, feels that cricket in the Caribbean is stuck to where it was decades ago and does not see any possibility of the rise of the game in the region.
The former Australian opener coached the West Indies to a series win against England this year, but predicted a severe battering for the visitors in the three Tests against Australia this summer.
Dyson said the structure of the game in the Caribbean and has serious doubts it can recover.
”You look at that great era they had (in the 1980s and ’90s) and what a fantastic team it was – they were just blessed at that particular time with a team of great players,” Dyson said.
”But given the way everyone else has progressed and the West Indies haven’t, it’s difficult to see that happening again.
”Everyone else has moved forward, but the West Indies are stuck in the past.
”They haven’t caught up with their competitions. They need to look at the whole structure at grass-roots level and start all over again. But that won’t happen,” Dyson was quoted as saying by The Herald Sun.
Dyson, who coached the West Indies for two years after replacing fellow Australian David Moore in 2007, picked up the recent conflict between players and the board as an evidence of the problems sorrounding the game in the region.
”The structure in West Indies cricket – the Australian structure is very good all the way through, but it’s not like that in the West Indies.
”Regional cricket is played on very poor wickets, they practise on very poor wickets.
”There are some good players spread around there, but there are so many problems, as seen with the industrial strike that they’ve just had,” he added.
The West Indies arrived in Australia on Thursday, with the first Test starting on November 26 at the Gabba. They boast a full-strength squad after players went on strike in July over a pay dispute with their cricket board.
But even with the return of Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Bravo and captain Chris Gayle, they aren’t expected to trouble the Australians this summer.
”You can’t see that happening,” Dyson said adding, ”Because of the lack of cricket and the preparation that they’ve had, it’s going to be a difficult summer.
”They just haven’t played enough serious cricket – most of them have been on strike. They’re going to have to find form very quickly,” he stressed.
–Agencies