Joel Garner: The problem is West Indies players don't work hard enough

08/17/2016

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West Indies legend Joel Garner has criticized the West Indies players for their dismal showing in the series against India, and said that the Windies players don’t work hard enough. The West Indies team manager also spoke against the ICC’s idea of introducing a two-tier system into Test cricket.

With only the fourth and final Test of the series remaining, India have an unassailable lead of 2-0, and Virat Kohli’s side were almost on the brink of winning the second Test at Jamaica before Roston Chase played an incredible innings on the last day. Speaking to the media before the fourth Test at Port of Spain, team manager and legendary fast bowler Joel Garner criticised the players for their lack of hard work, and said that if every player works hard, then the team can reach the top of the world cricket.

“We (the current team) always had promise. We always had the players. The problem is they don't work hard enough. If every player is prepared to work as hard as they need to, we can reach the top of world cricket,” said Garner, the West Indies team manager,reported Cricbuzz.

The legendary pacer also expressed his views on the two-tier league format, which is set to be introduced in International Test cricket from 2017, and questioned the competitiveness it is going to bring among Test-playing nations.

“Well, I wish them (ICC) luck if they want cricket to remain with the big three or big four. The only way you can get into the two-tier system is by playing against teams that are above you in the table,” the legendary pacer said.

Speaking about the disadvantage the league system has on lower ranked teams, he said, “How can you get in if you can't play teams that are above you? The question is, what purpose does it serve? Are you trying to preserve Test cricket or are you trying to keep it to a chosen few?”

He also suggested that the only way to preserve Test cricket is to, “let people at the lower level play against teams above them to be able to compete and to be able to gauge the progress.”

West Indies will play their fourth and final Test against India on Thursday in Port of Spain.