No one’s innings is over. Not just yet at least.
Forget about axing West Indies skipper Darren Sammy and the rest of his embattled senior players for now.
Head coach Ottis Gibson said he and new director of cricket Richard Pybus needed time to assess the team’s results before making any rushed decisions regarding the side’s personnel.
Gibson made the remark in light of recent comments by Sammy, who suggested that the careers of him and other senior players were on the line following a string of heavy and embarrassing series defeats, the latest being in New Zeland.
“Obviously when you’ve just lost a Test series the way we’ve lost, and not just this one but the one in India, emotions run high and people start talking about careers being on the line and it’s a little bit premature,” reasoned Gibson.
“We’ve had some discussions already about where we are and my thoughts on what we need to do to move forward and there’s a meeting pencilled in already for us when we get back [to the Caribbean] to really sit down, and not just with myself and him, but with the selectors as well to try and plot the way forward.
“[But] we have five months before the next Test series which gives us some time, gives us an opportunity to get home, let the dust settle a bit and reassess where we are and then hopefully come up with a solid plan. Not just a plan but the right personnel to get us where we want to get to,” he added.
It’s a somewhat surprising response to the Windies’ woeful results of recent time which has seen the regional side lose four of their last five Test matches – three by an innings – while following on in back-to-back Tests.
Sammy accepted that he didn’t do himself any further favours with his individual performances either after finishing those five Tests with just seven wickets inclusive of a wicket-less showing on the entire two-Test tour of India.
But the beleaguered captain seemed to suggest he wouldn’t be the only one going down with the ship following a long sequence of batting collapses where the Windies passed 300 just twice in ten innings after being bowled out for under 200 on six occasions.
And the most glaring failures have been those of star batsman Marlon Samuels, who averaged a woeful 21.60 over both series despite taking the crease in all ten innings.
“Batting collapses happen [but] in our team they happen too often,” said Gibson of the poor showings.
“It’s a sickening feeling when it happens to your team and it’s even more so when it happens twice in a Test series and as a coach you struggle to put your finger on it because the guys go in the nets and they work hard.”
But Gibson won’t be able to spend too much time going over the Test team’s failures considering the Windies start a five-match ODI series against New Zealand in two days.
“Sometimes what is going on in the Tests can drain the players, it can have a drain on the captain as well [but] having a new head in the One-Dayers, and some new players means we aren’t taking too much baggage into the series,” Gibson reasoned.