ST JOHN’S, Antigua — Despite a deepening frustration across the region over the West Indies’ chronic inconsistency, Cricket West Indies president Dr. Kishore Shallow has insisted that there will be no hasty move to dismiss head coach Daren Sammy, who has been under scrutiny since taking charge of all formats earlier this year.
Speaking on Isports i95.5 FM last Thursday, Shallow made it clear that Sammy’s future does not depend on the outcome of the ongoing Test series against New Zealand.
A tough start for the all-format coach
Sammy, 41, assumed the top coaching role in April and has since navigated a turbulent stretch. Under his leadership, the West Indies have endured heavy Test defeats, 3-0 to Australia and 2-0 to India, and posted modest returns in white-ball cricket, winning six of their last 18 T20 Internationals and three of nine ODIs.
Even with those results, Shallow warned against simplistic conclusions.
“I don’t think that whether we win this series or not will be a result of the current composition of our selection system,” he explained. “Before each series… if it is the correct squad chosen for the tour, most people will be in agreement, so clearly that is not the issue.”
Key injuries and structural problems
The CWI president also pointed to unavoidable setbacks, including the absence of two leading fast bowlers in the New Zealand series.
“And even if a player is unavailable due to injury, you can’t blame a selector for that either,” he said. “We are without two of our leading fast bowlers… Shamar Joseph and Alzarri Joseph.”
Shallow reaffirmed that the organization’s challenge is far deeper than a coaching appointment.
“You won’t get a knee-jerk reaction from me,” he stated. “I understand fully well what it takes for us to be successful consistently, but we have to address the fundamental deficiencies in our system, which we haven’t done well over the years.”
Acknowledging subpar performances
While Shallow refused to point fingers at Sammy or the selectors, he did not shy away from calling out the team’s ongoing struggles.
“We haven’t seen the sort of performances… and I would be the very first to put up my hand and say I’m not pleased with the young team’s performance,” he admitted. “We’ve been inconsistent, at best… whenever we’ve been performing, and we see glimpses of brilliance, we’ve been inconsistent in that case.”
This inconsistency, he emphasized, is hardly a new problem.
“It goes back about three decades now, so it is not new. I said from the very start that it is not an overnight fix for West Indies cricket.”
Long-term rebuild, not short-term panic
Shallow stressed that CWI remains committed to long-term development, even if the results continue to test regional patience.
“We are not going to produce the results that we are dying for… that we have been waiting for almost impatiently,” he noted. “We know our talent… we believe that we can return there. I have no doubt that we can return there, but it takes now the implementation of systems and infrastructure across the region, and stabilising our financial situation.”
His message was one of realism anchored by optimism: progress will come, but only through structural renewal rather than reactionary decisions.
