‘Gone up in flames today’: West Indies legend slams Daren Sammy for horrific loss to Australia, rues sorry state of affairs | Cricket News
West Indies were handed a humiliating loss to Australia in the third Test of the three-match series. Australia pacer Mitchell Starc took 6 wickets for just 9 runs as the West Indies made the second-lowest score in Test history, suffering a humiliating 176-run defeat at Sabina Park on Monday. Former West Indies Test and ODI captain Carl Hooper expressed his distress in the current state the West Indies cricket team finds itself in following the result. The humiliating defeat elicited sharp reactions and criticism from the cricket community – fans and pundits alike.Expressing his sorrow and frustration, the legendary figure said, “It’s been so disappointing. I’m angry, I’m upset, you know, because I think we were building a good thing a few years ago. And then we had wholesale changes. And to see this as the end result is like what we’ve done for the last two, three years in trying to build something has just sort of gone up in flames today.”Responding to what his message for the devastated side would be, Hooper said, “We were building something under the former head coach, Andre Coley. Then we removed him and brought in Daren Sammy, who was our white-ball coach. He’s now the all-format coach. And now, you sort of take one step forward and then, I think, two steps backward. Where do you go from here? We’ve got India coming up in a couple of months — a three-Test series — it’s going to be tough.““So it’s not as if you can see some light at the end of the tunnel. We don’t have a few easy oppositions; it’s going to be tough. So you just have to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and try to get ready for India,” Hooper told abc sport. His message for the West Indies side is a stark reminder that the road ahead is certainly not going to be smooth.
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On questions of whether the head coach has to be held accountable for the regrettable result, the former player did not offer much clarity. “Somebody’s got to be answerable. I think he also is the only selector, so just imagine someone who is picking the Australian team and is also the head coach — he’s got all the power, so he’s got to be held accountable. I know that’s not going to happen, you’re not going to remove him. When are we going to see Australia again on our shores, or our West Indies team on these shores, the way the financial model works? I don’t know. I mean, you now want to host India and England, so where does West Indies cricket go from here? I don’t know,” said Hooper, as he stated the sorry state of affairs the team currently finds itself in.
