Former West Indies fast bowler Sir Andy Roberts said the regional squad will continue to lose matches until their approach to the game changes.
His statement comes on the heels of the team’s humiliating 237-run defeat against India in the third Test in St Lucia on Saturday.
“If you’re a struggling team, you don’t try to draw matches, you try to win matches. And if you go out with a defeatist, defensive, attitude it’s going to show throughout your entire cricket, and that is how we have been playing,” Sir Andy said.
“Look at the first morning of the Test match when you win the toss and put the opposition in to bat, but you start without a short-leg and what sense is that? So, we are always playing from behind. It seems as though now, West Indies don’t know how to lead,” he added.

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Andy in deh skunts

In reply to CaribbeanCricket.com

I posted this Simmons, Jason Holder and Bishops twitter the same thing before we went to bag in the last test. Why the hell are we setting out to play draw cricket is beyond me. It cannot just be the players. Simmons is not very sharp at all.

In reply to Runs


I have nuff time for Andy
He is a top top bloke.... with an un untapped knowledge on the game.

In reply to ponderiver

I also have a lit of time for Andy, but why always so negative. Always seem to be gripping, and never offering solutions.

In reply to Runs

He nah let up t'all
He was right about Sammy, and he's right about this too.

In reply to positiveg

Andy is correct, Holder's captaincy has stifled his bowling and the team has a weak approach to competing. You can't just give away a period of the game in the name of playing for a draw. In a young players' mind that already feels like a loss and puts them in a shell. They have to learn to fight for the best result from every delivery.

In reply to Dizzy

Whats negative about this??

In reply to Dizzy

Not true.

Andy has always suggested solutions.

Andy is spot on, the WICB continue to make the same mistakes, Jason Holder or Carlos Brathwaite are not establish players, why make them captain?
Its like taking a guy fresh out of university and making him a CEO of a company, with only theory of management.

In reply to openning

no it is not like taking a guy fresh out of uni and making him a CEO but i get your point. altho i think that Holder is bits and pieces and cannot captain i would have had no issues with him being ODI or T20 cappo but certainly not test cricket. i dont even think he deserves a play-at least not yet

In reply to sudden

Why would you have no issue in making him the ODI or T 20 captain, when more experience players are in the squad?
Experience and position within a team should be one of the factors, in making a player captain.

In reply to openning

far easier to cappo the shorter game and he can hone his skills there if they want to make him test cappo later. the better option would be for him to captain Bim but he is not even captain there. that is what WICB had done wrong over the years ...make guys who dont even captain their home sides captain of WI.

In reply to openning

u have a large problem, can u name one established player on the team.

In reply to sudden

who is the team really deserves to make it base on performance -none , so my friend we have a huge problem

In reply to tc1

some more than others

In reply to sudden

they are all the same

In reply to tc1... whose performance you comparing them to?

In reply to openning

Andy was on the selecting panel a few years ago,- same result.
Bish ask Viv how did he play a bowler, did he watch his hand during delivery or he read it off the pitch,
he say to Bish, that complicated stuff, man I JUST PLAY the ball and hit it.

Some of these legends were geniuses.

In reply to sudden and Openning
Andy and you all need to give it a rest with Holder and this captaincy stuff and stop regurgitating all this theoretical nonsense unnoo keep sprouting. Look at the WI team, who in that WI team is mentally capable of leading a team and withstanding the pressure that all opposition teams put on captains of teams? Who? At least ask unnoo self that question before spouting off theory that have not one iota of sense in practicality especially in a WI setup.

In reply to natty_forever



Comparison to those in present setup.

In reply to carl0002

What theory are you talking about?

Jason Holder is currently on the job and after 8 tests as captain one is in a position or should be in a position to appraise his performance (leadership skills) or lack there of.

In reply to Runs

Andy Boycott Roberts

We need more like Andy.....but it seems all the others are still expecting a lil handout from WICB from time to time...so they batting in their crease

Holding has been firing some bouncers off and on....but he has removed himself from the scene of WI cricket.

Brian Lara fires some pull shots now and then.

Currently....Bish and Duje only batting in their crease...rarely venturing out

Lloyd, Garner and Walsh are now part of the monster destroying WI cricket...looking out only for themselves

Brung ,Baptistes and Simmons....are mediocre former cricketers...can't expect much from them in their current roles

Come on legends...speak out collectively !!!!

In reply to CaribbeanCricket.com

Andy spot on on all aspects in this article... Particularly about the negative mindset of the team

In reply to carl0002


Andy was a selector a couple panel ago, we have the same problem for the last 20 years. These legends all talk a good game with no positive results- they were great, but they in my opinion cannot 'teach".

In reply to tc1

If they can't teach ...that does not make them useless...don't ostracize them

Get "proper" teachers to implement the ideas and vision of the proven legends....tap this invaluable resource that we have in the WI....tap it to rass...otherwise we will be spinning top in mud for the next century

In reply to openning

Sammy then holder and now Carlos... All of them at the time of elevation still unproven...

Then have a classic statement, who else? Funny

In reply to Narper


Don't misunderstand me, our legends were great, but somehow they cannot transferred the knowledge to the students.

We should have our own coaching manual .We had a system that worked, did any one remembered how we did it, did we wrote it down , we live in the computer age.

we are on the same page here Narper.

In reply to Pacy

who is a proven one in this group, who is the established player, who is the one that is consistence for 4 matches to lead without averse effecting his performance.

In reply to carl0002

i am o the opinion that Pollard is more suitable than Carlos as the T20 captain, and Dwayne Bravo years of experience is qulify to be the ODI captain.
For the test team, the WICB has created a vacuum, by not selecting, some of these experience players, I would have kept Ramdin, Gayle says he still want to play test, so he open with Kraigg, and get both Russell and Narine to play.
Pollard has not batted high enough in T20, to bat at #5, and he is bowling is not good enough to be an all-rounder at the test level.
Dwayne Bravo is a good T20 cricketer and above average ODI, player.
You need experience players in the team and dressing room.

In reply to openning

all of the players u mentioned played for the WI BEFORE , with the same results, no change . Pollard looks good skippering in the CPL, just is good as Kevin Stoute for Bim

In reply to tc1

You are making the same mistake, as many posters speaking out about every selection panel.
The selectors cannot bat, bowl or field for the player selected, and at times they must follow the WICB rules.
The experience that these youngsters are gaining, by playing against the Gayles, sanga and others, you cannot get playing regional 4-days.

In reply to openning

i am speaking about Andy who was a selector with the same result as the present panel,

Very few of our youngsters are in the CPL, We do not have beneficial use of this league, it not for development of WIC

In reply to tc1

Experience count for some thing, unless you are telling the world, Gayle and others are the same type of cricketers, they were 4-5 years ago.

Dude, if you want someone to blame, it is the system.
Look in the mirror as a Barbadian and see the result in local cricket
You maybe happy to see an Elite or 1st division team in your neck of the woods, how is that benefitting the best players, when team do not have two good Elite players in the squad?

Central contract will help youngsters going forward, having the regional 50 overs and 4-day tournaments professionalize is a way to go

In reply to openning

I am not discounting experience, but how many WI youths are in the CPL, BIG BASH, OR IPL,

In reply to tc1

i would be the first to admit we dont have a lot to choose from but may the selections with long term planning in mind. you drop Sammy as cappo but go and select an upgraded version of Sammy

In reply to tc1

Why are you including the IPl or Bigbash when speaking about youth experience?
A kyle Mayers, the Young Jamaican all-rounder, Lewis and others playing in the CPL, will want other youngsters, to work to make these teams.

In reply to openning

u missing the point, u still need community base teams before u get to the professional league, all athlete start at the nursery and move up , this is the problem with WI cricket the community base is no longer at the forefront. The player need grass rout support, this why our stadiums are empty. We need an open support system.

In reply to Courtesy
I am not saying u cant evaluate him. But at least be reasonable in your assessment.

In reply to openning

Becuse the IPL , BIG bash and other leagues have great number of youth players in their leagues and are developing their youth players, we have a lot of old age pensioners masquerading as cricketers in our CPL which is control by foreigners.

We are getting the results that we paid for-

In reply to openning

Been there done that, same results and this is the success u want to go back to.

In reply to sudden

... you Bajans hit the bottle early a day time.

In reply to tc1... you realize we are World Champs at T20Is ... right?

... I would say we got this at a discount.

In reply to natty_forever

We wereT20 champs- luck hits by CB

but we are not developing players thru the CPL 20/20 version, when I look at the IPL, big bash and others T20 formats, they are many local youth playing in their respective leagues - we need to control our league to have full beneficial and monetary gains.

In reply to natty_forever

thanks and corrected my weedy friend

In reply to tc1

Not true!!!
What "odds" would you give for the present team winning the WISDEN???

You peeps make me sick with this repeated LIE!!!

In reply to tc1

Selectors dont teach they delect based on the criteria given them.

Secondly, is Roberts wrong about a short leg in the first overs of an inning? Its about creating opportunities rather than waiting for a handout.

Third, my comprehension tells me he is subtly saying Holder was not yet ready for any sort of captaincy, considering his bowling needs a lot of amending from footwork to body postire.

His batting needs to climb another rung based also on capability. The excuse that he wont be better at bowling for another 3 years is a joke.

Olus Roberts is tweaking the handling of the teams onfield strategy by coach and management which certainly was totally defensive.

In reply to tc1

Only when WI do this is luck. When any one else does it the team is great or knows how to win
Allyuh good yes!

Most T20 and ODI finals seem to come down yo the last 2 overs.

Coaching manuals, textbooks, mouth to ear knowledge is useless if the aptitude of the student is lacking in attentiveness, application, will, determination etc. Textbooks can gather dust on a shelf and experienced/helpful guidance is sneered at by the indolent

In reply to natty_forever

You have been rather quiet

In reply to Cleg
Wisdom , for god sake Braddie was playing

In reply to DizzyHe does have a very sad outlook.

In reply to Scar


Andy was a selector and a coach of the WI team, and the teams were just as bad as they are today
if u bowling shoite what the use of a forward short leg.

u have to be able to brake it down the task to the lowest common denominator , as a coach or teacher u have to use guides , footage in the modern age.

I only played HS cricket, but after every coaching session our great coach calls on the capt/ bowlers,/ players to demonstrate on the board field placing to each type of bowler/ batsman.

This was before Sudden went to Cawmere.

all organization have manuals, u use them and replace sections as they becomes obsolete.

In reply to openning

These so-called "experience" players are the ones who dragged the WI test team along with lemonade Dave down into the mud. Why are you trying to reinvent the wheel?


That old grown ass Roberts is like the fencer – sit on the borrowed fence and talk a lot of bullcrap with no substance.

Watch how Mason and guest reach out to him this afternoon.

That show has gone downhill. It’s just a matter of time before they pull the plug on it.

In reply to tc1... if we never reach the finals then a would agree, but them "lucky" hits never took us from the first match into the finals.

In reply to sudden... want some, function better on weed in the day time better than alcohol.

In reply to TheTrail

... please explain.

In reply to tc1

Bro, more organized cricket is being played at the grass root level, than when you was a tiny youth, the result of though programs is winning the U-19 WC.
Our youths are always competitive against all teams, it is the level after the U-19 that the guys are being left behind

In reply to openning

how many people go to theses game, one parent each.

people don't play cricket in Bim, I was last October, and the only persons i saw was a lil girl and boy and I throw a few to them.

on the beach guys were playing football

In reply to natty_forever

what the probabilities of hitting 4- sixes of the last 4 balls in a game

In reply to sudden

so let hear this again, Cawmere boy is no better than Sammy, u sure u ain't David's brother

Give Bravo de captaincy. Is not like that will affect his performances at bat. He already stinking up the joint anyway.

In reply to embsallie

he would not turn up for the next match, he would say he can't bat and be captain , too much task work

In reply to tc1

Holder is no Cawmere boy. Ricky is the right man for the T20. From there he can only grow

In reply to sudden

Jason is from the girl school, u just jealous since u did guh to the girl school like the short one n nick4000.

those two seh they had nuff pum pum

No one was bowling crap in the last Test match. It was pretty obviousHolder or his puppet masters were somewhat afraid to attack considering WI was always coming from behind.

Like I said you can lead a horse to water but you cant make it drink if it choose not to. At the senior level those guys appear to know it all and dont seem to want advice, fall back on same bad habits after one or two good displays, pure laziness in application. At this stage if they need a lowest denominator approach they should give up Test cricket its not for them. What they need is to make the least common mistakes which people do as they grow from child to adult. Look even in NFL and NBA guys get let go from teams because of the uncoachable attitudes. In the WI fabs and homebodies gripe when their uncoachables get dropped and they expect better results?!!

In reply to CaribbeanCricket.com

Very true Andy, a game is won or lost before you hit the field.

In reply to Wally-1

how is a game lost or won before you hit the field?

In reply to tc1... the fact that it was done makes that irrelevant.

In reply to sudden...

... in your head.

In reply to natty_forever

and how do you prove that?

In reply to sudden.... been there done that.

In reply to natty_forever

not following you, mate

In reply to sudden... if you allow the mindset that your opponent is better than you creep in, the chances are you going lose.

In reply to natty_forever

i understand the not performing part but how do you prove that the game was lost before you hit the field

In reply to natty_forever

i understand the not performing part but how do you prove that the game was lost before you hit the field