“We have enough people who love West Indies cricket to fix West Indies cricket.”

– Sarwan weighs in on West Indies Test woes

On the heels of West Indies’ record-low Test score of 27 against Australia last week, legendary Guyanese cricketer and former West Indian batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan has joined scores of his peers, weighing in on the West Indies Test saga.
Sarwan, who was hesitant to beat up on players over the shortcoming, insisted that there is still talent in the region, chalking up their losses to technical deficiencies and, in some cases, a lack of facilities.
“I think there are a lot of ongoing issues in terms of lack of facilities and so forth, and I think one of the biggest challenges we have in the Caribbean is being able to finance better facilities. So, I’ve spoken about it before where we probably need CARICOM to help assist,” Sarwan exclusively told the Guyana Times Sport on the side-lines of another event.
The former right-handed batsman went on to suggest, “Apart from that, from a cricketing aspect, I think technically, there are a lot of deficiencies. I mean, no doubt there’s talent, but I know talent alone would not be able to sustain you at a high standard at that level. It also has to go hand in hand with the mental aspect of it, and I think, at the moment, we lack both of them.”
Sarwan also shared his thoughts and some calls for the West Indies to move away from the Test format, expressing a hope that something can be done to make a turnaround, even if Cricket West Indies has to look to international players for ideas.
“I have represented the West Indies, and there’s a lot of pride and history there. I think if that is to ever happen, then that will be a very sad day throughout the Caribbean. Ideally, you don’t want to really see something like that happening, but at the end of the day, I think we have enough people who love West Indies cricket to fix West Indies cricket,” Sarwan assured.
He further opined, “And like I said before, we really need some help in terms of people to intervene, not only cricketers, past players who are legends, but we need a proper plan for West Indies cricket for probably the next 20-25 years, and hopefully, we’ll be able to set something. Maybe reach out to one of these major countries, whether it’s Australia, India, or England, and see what sort of structure they have in place and try to put in place something similar because those are the teams that have been successful over a very long time now.”
Last week, the West Indies were bowled out for 27 runs at Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica, in the third of three Test matches against Australia, chalking up the second-lowest Test score in history, after New Zealand’s 26 in 1955. The score was triggered by a 6-fer for Mitchell Starc, who now holds the record for the fastest five-wicket haul, attained in 2.3 overs.
West Indies eventually lost the Test series 0-3; an alarming whitewash in their own backyard.