West Indies Need To Learn Lessons Of Early T20 Cricket World Cup Exit, Says Former Captain Darren Sammy

Darren Sammy is content with retirement. Life is pretty good for the two-time T20 World Cup winning skipper, but he admits to getting an urge to once again get on the field while watching Australia and Sri Lanka do battle at the magnificent 60,000-seat Perth Stadium.

“I would love to bowl and bat on that wicket,” the former flamboyant all-rounder tells me on the sidelines of the match, making reference to the fast and bouncy pitch which is similar to the nearby WACA, where the West Indies were once invincible.

The original T20 World Cup, supposed to be played in 2020 before being delayed two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, had the Perth fixture being between Australia and West Indies before the latter slipped down the rankings in the intervening years.

It meant the defending champions, who won the 2016 edition so memorably, had to go through the first round, which was effectively a qualifier, along with seven other teams comprising lower-ranked Full Members and the best Associates.

But they were a shadow of their former self with big losses to Scotland and Ireland knocking them out in an embarrassing early flame out. It was a bitter pill to swallow for Sammy, who had also skippered West Indies to the title in 2012.

“I had an opportunity to hold the trophy with my bare hands,” he said. “Knowing my team is not there..it hurts. It’s disappointing.”

West Indies were unfancied heading into the tournament having struggled amid a new era, where the core of those two title winning teams had gone. But their formidable reputation in the format, where their big-hitting power through the order flipped the format on its head, still had some believing the West Indies could be a dark horse.

Even though they had a stirring victory against Zimbabwe sandwiched in the defeats, which proved fool’s gold, West Indies couldn’t get it going and their ugly exit was met with widespread derision, including from their president Ricky Skerritt and Australia great Ricky Ponting.

“Tactically we were poor. I do believe we have the calibre. We had guys in good form from the CPL. I don’t think it is about personnel,” Sammy said. “They didn’t execute. They need to pay attention to the detail.

“We were still unsure of our team, we made the same mistakes and were unsure of our XI. These things come back and bite you.”

West Indies dominated international cricket in the 1980s with their fearsome crop of fast bowlers and belligerent batters, led by talisman Viv Richards, making them one of those most iconic teams in history.

They’ve struggled since to recapture those heights though became the trendsetters in T20 when the shortest format started taking off. “People used to give us grief that we couldn’t compete in Tests and ODIs but we made T20s our format from 2009-16,” Sammy said.

“We dominated back then, so it’s sad that we had to go through the qualifiers. We’ve lost the fear factor, teams knew they couldn’t beat us. Until we start playing consistent enough then we will find ourselves in this position.”

The recriminations have started with coach Phil Simmons to step down after the West Indies’ Test tour of Australia in November and December. Having started his coaching career through the T20 franchise circuit, Sammy could loom as an intriguing candidate.

“Haven’t looked at it, I’m still young in my coaching career,” Sammy said of the coaching vacancy. “If they asked me I would give it consideration.”

With just two years until they co-host the next T20 World Cup alongside the U.S, Sammy remained hopeful a revival was imminent.

“We can only go up from here,” he said. “The next World Cup is at home so we need to build and get better.

“Everyone needs to learn from this experience and a plan needs to be put together.”