Caribbean Sports Network

MINISTER of Sport and Youth Affairs Anil Roberts has slammed the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) for their “unprofessional manner and disorganisation “ which he said has resulted in the decline of the West Indies cricket. Roberts made the criticisms while delivering the feature address at the Awards Ceremony of the Eastern Credit Union Premiership recently at the Ball Room of the Crowne Plaza in Port-of-Spain.

“Right now West Indies cricket is in a mess and I don’t want Trinidad and Tobago cricket to ever follow that. We are and continue to be the exemplars and we must continue that,” said Roberts.

Roberts noted that the structure put in place by the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) is at an advanced stage and is responsible for the continuous flow of talented local cricketers.

“Right now it is sad to say but when you make the Trinidad and Tobago cricket team the orginisation structure, treatment, the discipline of the team, captain, executive is far better than when you reach to the West Indies team,” said Roberts.

“The West Indies team is actually a step down because we see the team going on trips and the manager sits on the plane and players did not board yet, players don’t have tickets, they don’t have the visa. That does not happen with the Trinidad and Tobago cricket team,” he said.

Roberts urged to the TTCB, headed by Azim Bassarath to concentrate primarily on Trinidad and Tobago cricket and to forget about the WICB until they could get their act together.

“We are really wasting time (with the WICB) because we don’t have any control. What we cannot control let’s not waste our energy on that, we control our play, our development of our Trinidad and Tobago cricketers and then by extension they will get on the West Indies team and hopefully uplift that. Still there is restructuring in the West Indies that I don’t see that we should spend a lot of time worrying about them.

“We should focus on what we could do and that is Trinidad and Tobago cricket and I am glad that we are winning the Under-15, Under-17 and Under-19 tournaments,” said Roberts.

The popular former radio and television talk show host stressed that prominence be given to developing new talent and ensuring players are adequately prepared for international cricket.

“As far as I am concerned we must he looking to set a system in place so that if Australia is putting out a squad to come and play us in exhibition matches we must beat them.

“Whether we play them at the Queen’s Park Oval, at Toruba if it ever happens or at the Sir Frank Worrell Ground or at the Sir Frank Worrell Academy, we must be able to play mano-a-mano with Australia and England, Why Not? I don’t see why not,” stated Roberts.

He commended the TTCB for the work they have done in ensuring that Trinidad and Tobago continues to set the standard for cricket in the Caribbean.

“I am proud of my Trinidad and Tobago administration. I hope that they keep it up and continue to excel and I hope that the West Indies Cricket Board understand that they cannot treat our athletes like that. They have to get their game in order and we have to study what we have to do here,” said Roberts.

The sports minster pledged to upgrade facilities and do what he could to ensure cricket continues to thrive due to its importance to the public.

“Cricket and sport is much more than a game. It brings national pride that you cannot put a price on. When you look back people are still talking about our performances at the Champions League and how long ago was that?” said Roberts.