Holding calls for CWI transparency

Wed, Aug 2, '23

West Indies fast-bowling legend Michael Holding says the structure of cricket in the region is failing its players. He has also called for more transparency from the region's governing body, Cricket West Indies (CWI), about its financial affairs.

Holding, who was a guest on the Antigua and Barbuda-based Good Morning Jojo Sports Talk Show recently, says players across the region are opting for more lucrative opportunities in Twenty20 (T20) cricket leagues around the world instead of representing the West Indies because of the problems that exist within the structure of the game in the region.

"I think the system has failed," he said. "I don't know about the talent in the team right now. I wouldn't be able to tell you that the talent is what you'd like, but I know that the talent in the Caribbean has not faded. There's no way you can lose talent. It just doesn't disappear. But the system that we have now just doesn't bring that talent through, in my opinion, and also because of the fact that there's so much other T20 cricket going on around the world, where guys can earn a lot of money, so they disappear in that direction."

Holding, who has always been known as a critic of T20 cricket, recalls being disappointed to see how many players he considered of high talent playing for other teams while the Windies was touring at the same time.

"I don't watch West Indies cricket a lot now, I keep on telling people, I go on ESPN and I check the score, but I don't watch it," he said. "But I remember a tour of Australia some years ago where we had about nine cricketers playing the Big Bash (Australian T20 league) when West Indies was on tour there. None of them played for the West Indies, but they were in the Big Bash earning big money.