KOLKATA: Mark Nicholas’ ‘players with no brains’ comment may not have been of the same magnitude as Tony Greig’s ‘we’ll make them grovel’, remark of the 1970s. But somewhere, it ignited a fire in the West Indies camp.
Pay dispute a week before the tournament started, players short of proper uniform after having arrived in India — the build-up for the West Indies to the WT20 tournament couldn’t have been worse. But distractions also made them determined. They wanted to send a message to the world and to their own board.
If the four sixes in the final over off Carlos Brathwaite’s willow were not enough, captain Darren Sammy tore into the West Indies Cricket Board in an emotionally charged post-match speech. “People were wondering whether we would play this tournament as we had issues with the board. Mark Nicholas called us players with no brains. We came here without uniforms. But we came together. These 15 men put adversity aside and played this type of cricket in front of such fans. It was tremendous. I want to thank the coaching team and Phil Simmons (coach). Got to give credit to the entire team. This is for all the people in the Caribbean,” Sammy said.
It wasn’t over yet. Despite reaching the final, Sammy and his players didn’t receive any message from their board officials. “I want to thank the heads of CARICOM. Throughout this tournament they have been supporting the team. We’ve got emails, phone calls. Prime Minister (Keith) Mitchell [of Grenada] sent a very inspiring email for the team this morning. And I’m yet to hear from our own cricket board. They were extremely disrespectful and we wanted to send them a message. The only way we could have done that was by lifting the cup. We want to see smiles on the faces of the Caribbean people and that keeps us going.”
Caribbean cruise after strife
West Indies cricket plagued by disputes over contracts and lack of payments
Board asked players to take a massive pay cut or risk losing their place
Left home midway during a tour to India in 2014
Became the first team to win the World Cup and the World T20 twice
The country won three World titles in two months — the ICC Under-19 World Cup, the men’s World T20 and the women’s World T20
Even on Sunday while the whole world was congratulating the team, the country’s board was yet to contact them
Collapso to Calypso
The West Indies clinched a historic double, by winning the men’s and women’s WT20 titles in Kolkata on Sunday
The West Indies were in early trouble losing three wickets for 11 runs. Joe Root was the unlikely wicket taker for England
Marlon Samuels was the hero for WI, hitting 84 off 66 balls. He received late support from Carlos Brathwaite, who smashed four sixes in the last over