Darren Sammy, the former West Indies skipper, has lashed out at the West Indies Cricket Board on Wednesday (September 14) after head coach Phil Simmons was sacked just a few days before the team's departure to the United Arab Emirates for a full-fledged series, including three Twenty20 internationals, three One-Day Internationals and two Test matches against Pakistan.
Sammy himself got the boot despite leading the side to their second World T20 triumph earlier this year in India and was replaced by Carlos Brathwaite as skipper of the T20 team. The 32-year-old all-rounder took to Facebook and Twitter to vent his frustration right after WICB made the announcement of axing Simmons due to 'differences in cultural and strategic approach'.
"So after the publicity stunt in Fort Lauderdale the first so call plan to move West Indies Cricket forward is to Fire the Coach just 2days before a tour.. " Sammy wrote on his Facebook page. "Just prove to me what I already knew. If the blind leads the blind they are bound to fall in a pit."
Simmons was previously suspended by the WICB last year after he expressed displeasure over the non-inclusion of top players Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo in the ODI squad for the Sri Lanka series. In June, the board also replaced former skipper Clive Lloyd with Courtney Browne as the chairman of selectors, a move that was heavily criticised.
Team manager Joel Garner and coaches Henderson Springer and Roddy Estwick will now take over the side for the UAE tour.
“It started with [former West Indies head coach] Ottis Gibson, I want to thank you, buddy, for believing in me. And now it has ended up with Phil [Simmons, present head coach].
“So to my players all over the years who have been part of the team and who have played under my captaincy, I want to thank you for all the support.
“We have had our ups and downs, but I have never given up hope, I have never stopped believing in myself and in the team. That was what I was about as a captain, trying to instill a positive, never-say-die attitude in my team, and the result, we’ve won two World Cups.”
Darren explained that he got a phone call lasting no longer than 30 seconds on Thursday from recently installed convener of selectors, Courtney Browne, advising him that not only would he not be leading the Caribbean team for two upcoming T20 internationals against India in Florida, but that his performance did not merit his (Darren’s) selection in the team. Darren is the only player in the top 10 West Indians in both run scoring and wicket taking in this year’s edition of the Hero Caribbean Premier League.
But the now former captain, the first and only Saint Lucian ever to play Test cricket for West Indies, and the first from his island ever to play for the regional team in any format of the game, remained generous and big-hearted as ever. “I’ve always believed West Indies cricket is not about Darren Sammy. I want to wish the new captain all the best as he looks to lead West Indies cricket and take it forward.”
He concluded by stating that he would be able to dedicate more time to the Darren Sammy Foundation, which is intended to help develop young emerging athletes, and noting that he has always played with a smile, which will continue to be the way he approaches life.
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