West Indies Cricket Fans

FORMER Trinidad and Tobago and West Indies players, including former Windies captain Sir Clive Lloyd, disagree with the proposal to have a two-tier system in Test cricket. The two-tier system will have the top tier featuring high-ranked teams like Australia, India, England, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and New Zealand. The second tier will include West Indies, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe. A meeting between International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman Jay Shah, Cricket Australia and the England and Wales Cricket Board is scheduled for later this month with the two-tier system a topic to be discussed. A relegation and promotion system is being proposed. For example, the bottom team in the top tier will be demoted to the second tier and will be replaced in the top tier by the first-placed team in tier two. The relegation and promotion system is similar to football leagues around the world. Lloyd captained West Indies in one of their most dominant periods in the 1970s and 1980s. For 15 years, between 1980 and 1995, West Indies did not lose a Test series. Lloyd was an instrumental member of that memorable period as he captained the team until he retired in the mid 1980s. ''It will be terrible for all those countries who work so hard to get to Test-match status and now they'll be playing among themselves in a lower section," BBC sport quoted Lloyd as saying. He said sport is about testing your skills against the world's best. "How are they going to make it to the top? When you play against better teams, you improve. That's how you know how good you are, or how bad you are. I am very disturbed." He encouraged the ICC to help the lower-ranked teams develop. "The better system would be to give the teams the same amount of money so they can get the tools to improve," Lloyd said. Former West Indies manager Omar Khan agrees with Lloyd. "I think it should be an equal share because they know these small countries are struggling. We don't have the spending power to get sponsors as Australia, India, England and South Africa would have because we operate under different economies," Khan said. "I do not agree with a two-tier system. I think it should be a system where everybody should have the opportunity to participate in a level-playing field." Khan said a collective effort is required to lift the standard of cricket in the region. "Let's work together with Caricom, Cricket West Indies and the territorial boards...showing ICC we are willing to do our best to improve our level of Test cricket. "It will be devastating to the whole Caribbbean cricket public (to play in tier two), the die-hard West Indian fans who supporting West Indies whether they win, lose or draw." Former West Indies fast bowler Tony Gray said, "I agree fully with Sir Clive Lloyd that the monies should be given to develop the smaller countries, so that it can lift the overall standard of international cricket." Gray said having a two-tier system will remove the excitement from cricket. "It will get boring when you seeing one team playing against two teams alone. Variety is the spice of life when it comes to international sport." A powerhouse being defeated is always a memorable moment in sports. The two-tier system will take those occasions away from fans, Gray said. Gray said the territorial boards around the region need to develop more quality cricketers and improve youth-level cricket including at Primary school level. The recently concluded five-match Test series between Australia and India attracted impressive crowds in Australia, which has not been seen in the Caribbean for the past 20 years. Former TT cricketer Prakash Moosai said, "While market forces and/or commercial rights may provide some justification for the generation of revenue, what are the risks associated with such an approach? Inherent in such an approach is the risk of undermining the overall growth and competitiveness of cricket worldwide, just when it would appear that there is increased demand by non-Test playing countries (for example the US, Canada) for participation." Moosai agrees with Lloyd, Khan and Gray, saying more "equitable distribution of funds would foster development across all nations."  The post Ex-Windies players, officials dismiss proposed two-tier Test system appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.

Source: https://newsday.co.tt/2025/01/07/ex-win ... st-system/