Nothing pretty in pink about latest West Indies' woes...
The West Indies in action during a World Series Cricket Supertest against Australia in 1979. Photo: Getty Images
by Jon Pierik
While Cricket Australia's immediate focus is on next month's home
Test series against New Zealand, and the historic introduction of the
pink ball, it's a team that was once clad in pink that has some local
officials nervous.
The once mighty West Indies are again in
turmoil, this time after coach Phil Simmonds, the former hard-hitting
all rounder, was suspended over his criticism of the squad picked for the
imminent one-day series of Sri Lanka.
Simmonds, who helped guide
the Caribbean islands to a 1-1 Test series result against England
earlier this year, was stood down for declaring he had not been given
the "best 50-over ODI squad" and faces a disciplinary hearing.
While
the ugly side of Caribbean cricket politics is nothing new, that the
West Indies are due to play in three Tests in Australia this summer,
including the showcase Tests from Boxing Day in Melbourne and New Year's
day in Sydney, makes this latest round of trouble particularly
worrying.
Cricket purists will be particularly galled to find that some of the
West Indies best players - Chris Gayle, Darren Sammy, Dwayne Bravo,
Samuel Badree and Kieron Pollard - will be plying their trade in the
Twenty20 Big Bash League, held at the same time as the Test series.
While
they were once the darlings of world cricket, and famously were dressed
in pink during the second year of World Series cricket, the West Indies
have never recovered from losing their unofficial world crown to
Australia in 1995.
They have plummeted to new depths after last
week failing to qualify for the 2017 Champions Trophy tournament, the
first time they will miss any of cricket's three big limited-overs
events - the 50-overs World Cup, the Champions Trophy and the Twenty20
World Cup. Their spot in the eight-team competition was taken by
Bangladesh.
Simmonds, who played 26 Tests and 143 one-day
internationals, was appointed head coach in March after a successful
eight-year tenure with Ireland.
But he has again quickly learnt
how the politics of Caribbean cricket can make life a misery even for
such greats as Sir Vivian Richards.
The latest selection drama has
Simmonds, panel chairman Clive Lloyd, and skipper Jason Holder on one
side, with fellow selectors Courtney Walsh, Courtney Browne and Eldine
Baptiste on the other, the latter winning the battle to have Bravo and
Pollard overlooked for the one-day squad.
