Has Darren Sammy Called Out the WI Players T20 League Addiction?

Darren Sammy breaks the silence about the addiction of the Caribbean players with T20 leagues. The West Indies Head Coach talked about how things have changed in their team over the last few years.

A team that won the T20 World Cup 2016 is going through its worst phase as of now. It is the West Indies, and their situation has been a lot more challenging now than before. Darren Sammy, the team's Head Coach, recently talked about the same, telling how things have changed for the team.

He said that he is now a bit afraid that the players will refuse to play for the national side even if they are selected. Indirectly, he has blamed the T20 leagues and the addiction of Caribbean players towards the same for the reason behind it. But Sammy is not the only one who talked about the downfall of the West Indies cricket team.

1. Brian Lara Talks About West Indies Cricket Downfall

Among all the players who have expressed their concern about the downfall of the team, Brian Lara is also one of them. The legend who made the team famous and even helped them to win ICC titles is now watching the team suffer. Following the team being all out on 27 against Australia, Brian Lara participated in an emergency meeting.

Before the emergency meeting, Lara said, "We played first-class cricket and some of us even played county cricket to try to get into the West Indies team. We are now using the Western East team as a stepping stone, as a stage for us to get, you know, contracts around. And that is not a fault of the player.”

In the meeting, plans were made with the CWI to reform the team and infrastructure for cricket development. Roston Chase, who is the Test captain for the team, revealed the challenges players face. He also talked about the financial challenges they encounter while playing for the team.

Brian Lara took note of all the aspects and challenges Chase said. Eventually, he talked about how the players have suffered when it comes to finances. This has been the reason behind the major cricket crisis being faced by the country these days.

But Brian Lara also talked about how the desire to play for the national side is now less among the players. With this statement, Lara has again targeted the players for focusing on T20 leagues more, rather than representing their country.

2. Shocking Caribbean Retirements in 2025

The year 2025 has been filled with retirements. And it is also the case with the West Indies as the team experienced two retirements this year. First, it was Nicholas Pooran who announced his retirement on June 10. It will be shocking for the fans to know that he retired from international cricket at the age of 29.

With Pooran focusing more on T20 leagues, he took his retirement from the international format. This decision of Pooran was also discussed by the selectors at the CWI. Now, with Pooran focusing on the T20 leagues, the turmoil for the West Indies continues to persist.

Another retirement that the team experienced was of Andre Russell. After representing the team for almost a decade, Russell announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket. Yet he continues to represent his respective teams in the T20 leagues taking place around the world.