Garner: “The motivation was just doing well, maintaining the next pay.”
West Indies fast-bowling legend Joel Garner says the greatest players to represent the region were never adequately rewarded for their contributions to the game.
Garner, affectionately known as the 'Big Bird', helped establish West Indies as the undisputed powerhouse of international cricket in the late 1970s and 1980s alongside other pacers like Michael Holding, Colin Croft, Andy Roberts, and Malcolm Marshall.
Yet, despite their extraordinary success, financial compensation did not always match their achievements. Many players depended heavily on opportunities in English county cricket to supplement their earnings.
"I don't think that we were paid what we were worth when we were playing," Garner told Wisden’s The Scoop. “And we had to keep winning because that was our only bargaining tool when we sat down with the board,” he added.
