Elated after a second World Twenty20 title but still bitter with the West Indies Cricket Board, skipper Darren Sammy said his players have responded in the best way possible to the “disrespect” shown to them by the critics and WICB.
Described as a team with no brains by English commentator Mark Nicholas, West Indies made a huge statement when they clinched their second World T20 title after beating England by four wickets on Sunday.
“We needed silverware in the Caribbean in 2012. Nobody gave us a chance back then. This one with all that happened before the tournament, the disrespect from journalists and from our own cricket board that was out of order…. the only way we could make a statement was by winning this tournament,” Sammy told reporters at the press-conference.
“When you see those 15 men out there play now, that’s what we could talk about. It is solely dedicated to the people and fans all over the world,” he added.
Sammy said he was disappointed that he did not get any response from the West Indies Cricket Board.
“When we started this journey people were wondering whether we would play this tournament. We had a lot of issues. We felt disrespected by our board. Mark Nicholas described our team as a team with no brains. All these things before the tournament just brought this team together,” he said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
“I really want to thank the heads of CARICOM. They have been supporting this team throughout this tournament. We’ve got emails, we’ve got phone calls. Prime Minister [Keith] Mitchell [from Grenada] sent a very inspiring email for the team this morning ... and I’m yet to hear from our own cricket board. That is very disappointing.”
Sammy said he does not know when would be the next time that he wears a West Indies shirt as there are no Twenty20’s scheduled for the team this year.
“I don’t know when I will see the guys in the dressing room again. Don’t see any T20 scheduled this year. We have a tri-series, a series against India. We are not eligible for selection,” he said.
“Look at the side. Gayle, Bravo, Holder, Brathwaite, Benn. Any given day they could have a brilliant performance. We had 15 match-winners. That’s the hallmark. We keep winning convincingly. It shows we are not a one man team.”
Besides the men’s team, West Indies also won the Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh in February this year and the women’s team clinched their maiden World T20 title earlier in the day.
