Sir Andy calls for Windies coach, CWI administrators to step down

It is no secret that West Indies fast-bowling great Sir Andy Roberts does not mince words when it comes to criticising players, coaches and even administrators with regards to West Indies cricket.

The Antiguan has once again come out swinging. This time, he is calling for the immediate resignation of Cricket West Indies (CWI) President Dr Kishore Shallow, Director of Cricket Miles Bascombe, and head coach Daren Sammy, citing deep-rooted issues in regional cricket administration.Roberts, speaking bluntly on an Antiguan radio show, slammed the current leadership for allowing Sammy, who serves as both coach and selector, to wield excessive power while failing to address the sport’s decline.

“The Director of Cricket should walk, the President should walk, the coach should walk, first and foremost,” Roberts declared. How can one person have that much control over the fortunes of five million people? If they can’t take resp onsibility, how can they not resign?”

His outburst follows the West Indies’ humiliating second-innings collapse for just 27 runs in the final Test against Australia in Jamaica, the second-lowest total in Test history.

In response, CWI has summoned an emergency meeting, inviting legends like Sir Viv Richards, Sir Clive Lloyd, and Brian Lara to assess the disaster.

But Roberts dismissed the move as insufficient, as he believes more urgent decisions should be made to stop the haemorrhaging. “I was shocked, three wickets in the first over? Unthinkable. But meetings won’t fix this. We need proper development, starting from youth cricket with qualified coaches. The problems run much deeper.”

The Antiguan icon also demanded that Shallow publicly apologise for recent remarks implying critics target Sammy due to his Saint Lucian heritage.

“He must apologise. Barbadians criticised Viv and Richie as captains, but no one claimed it was because they were Antiguans. Shallow’s words fuel division.”

With West Indies cricket at a crossroads, Roberts’ scathing critique underscores growing frustration over leadership failures and raises the pressure for sweeping change.
(CMC)