Former West Indies fast bowler Sir Andy Roberts believes a lack of access to quality players was a key reason the resignation of the regional team’s head coach Stuart Law.
Law, who will head for English County team Middlesex following the conclusion of the Windies tour of India, cited family reasons and needing to make use of a good opportunity as the cause for his departure.
Roberts believes there was an underlying cause for Law’s departure that has affected a number of regional coaches.
“I am not surprised because I knew it was going to happen, and if they don’t get fired then they resign, they move on. It’s a reflection because we don’t have good cricketers and that’s the bottom line and nobody wants to be hanging on for hanging on sake. [At this point] I would just hire somebody to go with the team, cut down on all of that backroom staff they have so we can focus on playing cricket,” Roberts told the Antigua Observer.
As a coach, Law won six out of 15 Tests, and secured series wins over Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, as well as a draw with Sri Lanka. The team’s record was even more impressive in T20Is – eight wins in 19 matches including victory over a World XI team at Lord’s in May. In recent times pundits and fan have pointed to a crop of developing players that have stepped into the limelight in recent times. Roberts, however, does not entirely agree.
“The bottom line is, we do not have good cricketers and I disagree that we have this abundance of talent. We don’t have this abundance of talent but we have some reasonable cricketers. If the players aren’t prepared to put in the hard work to improve their game you are going to end up with what we have right now and we will be ending up with that right through so the onus is on the players to try and improve,” he said.
Law, who will head for English County team Middlesex following the conclusion of the Windies tour of India, cited family reasons and needing to make use of a good opportunity as the cause for his departure.
Roberts believes there was an underlying cause for Law’s departure that has affected a number of regional coaches.
“I am not surprised because I knew it was going to happen, and if they don’t get fired then they resign, they move on. It’s a reflection because we don’t have good cricketers and that’s the bottom line and nobody wants to be hanging on for hanging on sake. [At this point] I would just hire somebody to go with the team, cut down on all of that backroom staff they have so we can focus on playing cricket,” Roberts told the Antigua Observer.
As a coach, Law won six out of 15 Tests, and secured series wins over Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, as well as a draw with Sri Lanka. The team’s record was even more impressive in T20Is – eight wins in 19 matches including victory over a World XI team at Lord’s in May. In recent times pundits and fan have pointed to a crop of developing players that have stepped into the limelight in recent times. Roberts, however, does not entirely agree.
“The bottom line is, we do not have good cricketers and I disagree that we have this abundance of talent. We don’t have this abundance of talent but we have some reasonable cricketers. If the players aren’t prepared to put in the hard work to improve their game you are going to end up with what we have right now and we will be ending up with that right through so the onus is on the players to try and improve,” he said.