West Indies Jeff Dujon great savages board, coach in wake of Australian series defeat

The West Indies are on the verge of crisis following a series defeat to Australia, with the board and head coach Daren Sammy copping a massive take-down from one of their all-time greats.

West Indian great Jeff Dujon has savaged the Windies board, accusing it of “nepotism” and arguing that coach Daren Sammy isn’t up to the job as recriminations follow the Test side’s letting another chance to regain the Frank Worrell Trophy slip.

Dujon, the 81-Test wicketkeeper who was a mainstay of the dominant West Indian outfit of the 1980s, says he has become disenchanted with the running of the game in the Caribbean and is saddened by the decline of a once mighty empire.

In particular, Dujon – fifth on the all-time Test dismissals list for wicketkeepers – pointed the finger at Cricket West Indies president Kishore Shallow, who hails from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, suggesting that he had favoured the Eastern Caribbean in instilling Sammy, who is from nearby St Lucia, as all-format coach.

Sammy had already been coaching the Windies white-ball outfits but earlier this year took over from Andre Coley, who like Dujon is a Jamaican, as Test coach.

Daren Sammy’s coaching has been heavily criticised. Picture: Getty

Coley had been at the helm when the Windies drew 1-1 with Australia last year, including the famous Gabba victory that was the side’s first against the Aussies in more than two decades, albeit the Windies again finished second-bottom of the World Test Championship.

“Administration wise, nothing short of nepotism is taking place now,” Dujon, 69, told this masthead.

“It seems that we’ve done away with the selectors. Whereas we had coaches for the different disciplines, we have one coach for everything and, well, I don’t know what the selection policy is now, because we have none.

“I think that everything centres around him (Sammy) and his credentials to me are not encouraging in terms of a coach who can make a team better.

“The power of the presidency now resides in the Eastern Caribbean. And, you know, so all the people who were, a lot of people have been displaced.

“As far as I’m concerned, Andre Coley, who was the Test match coach did a very good job. And he has been just passed aside. I was very hurt about that, because he has the credentials. He’s very experienced, and I think he was getting somewhere. And you know that he actually lost his place after having a good series. So it’s, it’s just a little bit too political for me.”

West Indies great Jeff Dujon has launched a stunning attack on the current team.

The Windies’ 133-run defeat in the second Test in Grenada means there is no end in sight to Australia’s three-decade stranglehold on the Worrell Trophy, silverware that had been in the Windies’ grasp throughout Dujon’s decade-long international career.

The former gloveman said he had little hope that the West Indies could re-emerge as a global force.

“The thing that really saddens me is the manner in which it has gone this way, to be quite honest. We couldn’t dominate the world forever, (but if we) had a proper structure of development and an administration that had a succession plan, I think we wouldn’t necessarily be at the top of Test cricket now or international cricket, but I think we’d be, we’d be further up the ladder.

“We’re too embedded and too entrenched in the politics. You’ve got to make an investment at some point, an investment that is in line with, in terms of development, is it’s in line with best practice.

“And the people that you have to put in these positions have to be people who can deliver that.”

While the Windies had the wood over Australia across Dujon’s international career, he credited the Aussies for toughening up his side.

“It was very hard, mentally and physically. It was what made me enjoy the rest of my career playing against Australia, because I think it toughened me up very early, understand what was all about. I played against people like Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson, it was hard.”

Originally published as West Indies Jeff Dujon great savages board, coach in wake of Australian series defeat