Legendary batter Brian Lara feels that West Indies cricketers can’t be faulted for preferring profitable T20 franchise leagues world wide, like IPL, to nationwide obligation, saying enjoying the sport today can be about “making a dwelling”.
One of many causes of West Indies’ decline, particularly in Take a look at cricket, has been the arrival of T20 franchise cricket, with a handful of the Caribbean stars selecting to chase profitable offers world wide as an alternative of representing their nation in red-ball cricket.
“For an 18-or-19-year-old to say, ‘I’m heading to the IPL’, or, ‘I don’t care about West Indies cricket’… It’s not simply his fault,” Lara instructed ‘Sen Sportsday’.
“(About) 40 or 50 years in the past, you will have been pushed or motivated by enjoying to your nation. However the sport at the moment is about enjoying and making a dwelling, so we’ve to make it possible for that’s a part of the entire deal that we’re promoting,” stated the previous captain who’s right here as group mentor for the two-match Take a look at collection towards Australia beginning on Wednesday.
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Lara admitted the problem on the a part of the West Indies Cricket Board (CWI) to compete with profitable franchise leagues world wide.
“We’ve acquired to face the info. The franchise cricket that’s being performed world wide, it is extremely troublesome for the West Cricket Board to compete with such profitable alternatives that our cricketers have.” He stated it will be troublesome to vary the mindset of the present crop of gamers, and so the West Indies Cricket Board should attempt to instil the subsequent technology the significance of representing their a part of the world on the worldwide stage. He stated that push should be made in underage cricket and at faculties.
“It’s unattainable to do it with a gift crop. I feel we’ve acquired to go and get that into the faculties and into the age group cricket earlier than we deliver them out on the worldwide stage,” he stated.
“I feel we’ve acquired to, to begin with, attempt to maintain on to the younger ones, the youngsters. We have to get them to grasp what West Indies cricket means and the way we will defend it,” he added.
The batting legend stated it was essential for West Indies cricketers to develop a way of loyalty to the Caribbean group.
“I simply assume that we’ve not bought what West Indies cricket means to us as Caribbean folks and why try to be enjoying for the West Indies – that’s the very first thing we have to do.
“That’s what Australia has completed. Australia don’t simply pay their cricketers extra or England pays their cricketers extra … they develop that form of loyalty to the game of their nation and that’s what we’ve not completed,” he stated.