In this inaugural edition of the Sports Reporters Round Table, we dive into the latest developments in West Indies cricket. It’s been an eventful week for the regional game, with major leadership changes taking center stage.
Two-time World Cup-winning captain Daren Sammy has expanded his role, taking over as head coach across all formats, adding responsibility for the Test team to the white-ball duties he has held since 2023. Meanwhile, Kraigg Brathwaite has stepped down as Test captain after four years at the helm, and Shai Hope, the current ODI skipper, has been named the new T20I captain, replacing Rovman Powell.
Joining Sports Editor Terry Finisterre for the discussion on Sammy’s immediate challenges – and what success might look like – are two seasoned cricket voices: Joseph Reds Perreira, a commentator with 50 years of experience, and Anthony Classic De Beauville, a long-time writer and coach. Their insights come at a crucial time, with the West Indies set to host Australia for a three-Test series in June.
How do you assess the choice of Sammy?
Reds: I think Sammy has a difficult year ahead of him. He’s got clear ideas of what he wants to do with the team. He is a motivator and has done a job with the white-ball team, and before that as captain. So he will get his men to be committed. Of course, the team that you’re coaching is as good as the players that you have. But I think that it’s an interesting position by the West Indies board to appoint Sammy. He might get a response from some of the white-ball players who have not responded towards the commitment of the West Indies team.
Tony: When the announcement was made sometime last year that Sammy would be coach and appointed on April 1 – not a joke, it’s serious business, I think the entire Caribbean did take it as is. And with such experience, one who has captained West in all three formats, and now to coach in all three formats, is one of the best things that ever happened to West Indies cricket.
Terry: I’m looking forward to seeing the team, as Reds said, being a lot more committed. I’m looking forward to getting a stronger team spirit. Daren Sammy initially was offered the job of coaching all three of the senior men’s teams. He did turn that down. He did say that he wanted to stick to the white-ball back in 2023. He’s now been, of course, given the opportunity once again to take over the Test team. I think that the job that he’s done with the ODI team, the job he’s done with the T20 team, as far as raising the standards, setting a level of accountability, setting a level of process-oriented preparation, I think that is now going to come into the Test team a little bit more. And I think hopefully that is going to make a lot of difference.
The first test for Daren Sammy is going to be as tough as they come, facing Australia at home.
What makes a successful Australia series for the Windies?
Tony: Once we have the right chemistry, the right team in place, preparation leading to that series, I believe the West Indies team should be a team where they can go out there after how many years to compete. We haven’t competed as a Test team for a while now. Yes, we won Australia last year to draw the series, where [Shamar] Joseph picked up seven. But right now I believe the entire Caribbean is going to rally around the West Indies in the Caribbean against Australia.
Reds: If he can get all the players committed, he could put together a competitive side against one of the best sides in the world. I think we must be fully aware that we’re playing a very strong Australia side. I think the occasion in Barbados will be very special and maybe motivating to Daren Sammy and the entire team, because the West Indies board has announced that they will be celebrating the West Indies Clive Lloyd-led team in [winning] the Prudential Cup 1975. And they hope to bring all the players there to be part of the celebration, which I think should impact in a very positive way in the minds of the players. I think it’s a great opportunity for the players to say, right, if they can do it, we can do it. And incidentally, the West Indies beat Australia in the final in 1975.
Terry: Magic in Multan! We’ve seen the West Indies showing a great deal of fight in the past year, year and a half. We’ve seen them pull some results that probably the cricketing world did not expect them to pull. And this with a very inexperienced side. We’re looking at people like Tevin Imlach, Jangoo, who are basically just getting their feet wet. Even some of the more seasoned players, you know Alick Athanaze has 13 Tests under his belt. Some of those guys are still young in the game. So, with a very inexperienced side, what I really want to see throughout this Australia series is some growth from the players. Growth, development, maturity.
The West Indies will go into the Australia series with a new captain. Two matches shy of his 100th Test, Brathwaite has been in charge for 39 fixtures since 2021, after replacing fellow Barbadian Jason Holder at the helm.
Who should be the next captain?
Reds: Throughout the Caribbean, people have been trying to work out who may be the best person to appoint as the red-ball captain. My own feeling is, keep it simple. If you have an all-format coach in Daren Sammy, both white-ball and red-ball, simplify it. Ask Hope to also be your Test captain. I think it will work in unison with the coach. I think it will work nicely with [director of cricket] Miles Bascombe. Hope is highly respected. He’s an ultimate pro. He goes about his life in a very orderly way, no roro stories about him. And I think that he will make an excellent captain, and he will be a long-term captain, because he’s young enough. I will also say that he will have to improve his Test record. He started brilliantly. One can always remember him at Headingley, he and Brathwaite in that partnership that helped to beat England. But he will know that he will have to push up that Test average into the middle 30s.
Terry: Hope is obviously a long shot for the West Indies captaincy. But when we look at the entire landscape, everybody is a long shot. Athanaze is relatively inexperienced. Joshua de Silva doesn’t necessarily command his place at the moment; he was being groomed for the captaincy. Alzarri Joseph had a recent incident of indiscipline, I think a lot of people would look askance at him being placed as a captain so shortly after that. Kemar Roach is a little bit long in the tooth; he would be a stopgap measure. So too Jason Holder, who also would have previously held the captaincy. So yes, for me, Shai Hope is as good as any.
Tony: When the news broke that Kraigg decided to call it quits as captain – 98 Test matches, and hopefully he can play the two against Australia to get to 100 – my first bet was Shai Hope. My reason for Shai Hope, he’s a committed West Indies cricketer. He’s one of the players I’ve seen over the years with his head on his shoulders. He reminds me a lot of the Clive Lloyd and Viv Richards style of cricketer. Even Mike Atherton from England. And these are the kinds of persons that West Indies cricket needs now in terms of leadership, to bring us where we were supposed to be at least five or six years ago. And Daren Sammy has always said from early o’clock that he wants to see the West Indies cricket teams, be it Test, T20, or 50-over, become the number one team in the world. And I believe that’s what he’s going for now.
