Roberts condems Sammy’s firing

Former West Indies Cricket Captain, Darren Sammy.
Former West Indies Cricket Captain, Darren Sammy.
Associated Press / Eranga Jayawardena/File

Former West Indies fast bowler Andy Roberts said the firing of Darren Sammy as captain of the Twenty20 team was on the basis of comments he made criticizing the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) after his side won a second Twenty20 World Cup title in India earlier this year.

In an emotional speech after the victory in the World Cup, Sammy accused the WICB of “disrespecting the team” and was not even congratulated for winning the World Twenty20 championship for a second time.

Roberts believes that Sammy’s performance in the recent Caribbean Premier League (CPL) should have earned him a spot on the team to play India in two Twenty20 matches in Florida later this month.

He said: “This is Sammy’s best year in the CPL and you can see, this year, he was inspired by what transpired in the World T20.”

The chairman of selectors Courtney Browne said the side had been picked “purely on performances.” Sammy scored 212 runs at an average of 42, during the CPL.

Roberts disagreed with the choice of the Barbadian all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite as new Twenty20 captain.

The legendary fast bowler said the best choice should have been Trinidadian all-rounder Kieron Pollard, whose captaincy of the Barbados Tridents has received widespread praise.