debut: 2/16/17
39,717 runs
Sammy’s ‘sway’
Cricket West Indies (CWI) continues to wave its failing/flailing “magic” wands whilst our spectators continue to hope and pray better days are coming!Andre Coley was removed as coach of our Test team and Daren Sammy was elevated to coach of all three formats—effective April 1, 2025; was this date a coincidence? Sammy has admitted to have never taken a cricket coaching course, so indeed he has already started off on the back foot!
On the front foot, commentator Bryan Davis said that is tantamount to saying “I realise all I need to be a coach is having been an international captain”. He added, “How can anyone boast about not having any qualifications, yet he is able to walk into a job of vital importance like an international Test coach?”
Coley has coached at the West Indies academy and A team levels and served for a number of years under head coaches Gibson, Simmons and Law. Jeffrey Dujon was stunned by Sammy’s appointment—“I am surprised that they replaced Andy Coley and I am even more surprised by the replacement. In terms of experience, Andre is the most experienced coach in the Caribbean and he is being replaced by someone who has nowhere near that experience as a coach. So it strikes me as being very strange.”Speaking about strange, the following seven players have been sidelined/dropped for the series against Australia—Da Silva, Athanaze, Hodge, Roach, Jangoo, Motie and St Clair! They all featured in the recent drawn Test series (one all) against Pakistan in Pakistan.The plot thickens and the silence grows to deafening proportions concerning the Dominican “twins”, Athanaze and Hodge. Athanaze quietly “retired/resigned” coincidentally after Sammy included T20 and WI “favourite” Hetmyer ahead of Athanaze against England in October last year in the ODI series. Athanaze was the only player dropped from the squad that toured Sri Lanka!
Inspire players? How? What about the unlucky seven whose careers are being ruined after a tough Pakistan tour as well as tough team games against Australia, South Africa and England?—tours which Hope and Chase did not make themselves available for.CWI board member Jamaican Dr Donovan Bennett said the decision to replace Coley is less about competence and more about Sammy’s “sway”—his perceived ability to get the region’s more talented players committed to red ball cricket.As the old saying goes, there is “more in the mortar than the pestle”; time will reveal all! Daren Sammy has had his sway and unlike many other cricket pundits, I am saving my money to make the trip to Nepal when the ICC introduces a two-tier Test system and WI will be on top once more—in the second tier, of course.
Cricket West Indies (CWI) continues to wave its failing/flailing “magic” wands whilst our spectators continue to hope and pray better days are coming!Andre Coley was removed as coach of our Test team and Daren Sammy was elevated to coach of all three formats—effective April 1, 2025; was this date a coincidence? Sammy has admitted to have never taken a cricket coaching course, so indeed he has already started off on the back foot!
On the front foot, commentator Bryan Davis said that is tantamount to saying “I realise all I need to be a coach is having been an international captain”. He added, “How can anyone boast about not having any qualifications, yet he is able to walk into a job of vital importance like an international Test coach?”
Coley has coached at the West Indies academy and A team levels and served for a number of years under head coaches Gibson, Simmons and Law. Jeffrey Dujon was stunned by Sammy’s appointment—“I am surprised that they replaced Andy Coley and I am even more surprised by the replacement. In terms of experience, Andre is the most experienced coach in the Caribbean and he is being replaced by someone who has nowhere near that experience as a coach. So it strikes me as being very strange.”Speaking about strange, the following seven players have been sidelined/dropped for the series against Australia—Da Silva, Athanaze, Hodge, Roach, Jangoo, Motie and St Clair! They all featured in the recent drawn Test series (one all) against Pakistan in Pakistan.The plot thickens and the silence grows to deafening proportions concerning the Dominican “twins”, Athanaze and Hodge. Athanaze quietly “retired/resigned” coincidentally after Sammy included T20 and WI “favourite” Hetmyer ahead of Athanaze against England in October last year in the ODI series. Athanaze was the only player dropped from the squad that toured Sri Lanka!
Inspire players? How? What about the unlucky seven whose careers are being ruined after a tough Pakistan tour as well as tough team games against Australia, South Africa and England?—tours which Hope and Chase did not make themselves available for.CWI board member Jamaican Dr Donovan Bennett said the decision to replace Coley is less about competence and more about Sammy’s “sway”—his perceived ability to get the region’s more talented players committed to red ball cricket.As the old saying goes, there is “more in the mortar than the pestle”; time will reveal all! Daren Sammy has had his sway and unlike many other cricket pundits, I am saving my money to make the trip to Nepal when the ICC introduces a two-tier Test system and WI will be on top once more—in the second tier, of course.
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