Calvin Hope, the high-ranking Barbados Cricket Association official who last year mounted a failed bid for the vice-presidency of Cricket West Indies, has revisited the three-year-old axing of head coach Richard Pybus as part of his criticism of the Ricky Skerritt administration.
The decision to fire Englishman Pybus, Hope told Starcom Radio’s Mason and Guest, was one of several changes implemented by the new administration which “had all [fallen] flat” and compromised regional cricket development.
Pybus was a controversial choice of the Dave Cameron-led regime to replace Australian Stuart Law in 2019, ahead of a three-Test series against England which West Indies surprisingly captured 2-1.
After Skerritt toppled Cameron in a highly-charged CWI elections staged in Jamaica, the West Indies coaching staff was overhauled ahead of the ICC 50-over World Cup, with former Barbados and West Indies batsman Floyd Reifer replacing Pybus.
“It wasn’t even bad, it was the worst decision that has ever been made in recent times in West Indies cricket,” said Hope, a BCA vice-president and CWI director.
“Because here you were, you were just beginning to see some green shoots in the performance of a team – it doesn’t matter who was in charge before or anything like that. It was basically a political decision.
“From the time that rug was pulled from under that team’s feet what happened, the whole thing imploded – the confidence of the team went. Everybody is there to see that. There is no doubt about it.”
West Indies won only three of 22 One-Day Internationals in 2017 and eight of 18 the following year to enter the World Cup ranked ninth, and subsequently finished ninth at the England showpiece after winning just two of nine matches.
Hope, who along with Guyana’s Anand Sanasie, challenged Skerritt and vice-president Dr Kishore Shallow last year before withdrawing their bid, also criticized the current CWI administration for lack of collaboration on key issues like governance reform.
“I can say that it has not been a situation of inclusiveness in decision-making,” Hope argued, pointing to a lack of consultation with territorial boards.
He added: “We need to examine and do a serious surgery on the day to day administration of our cricket. Everybody focuses on the board.
“The board meets quarterly … four times a year … all the decisions are being made by a few people. I believe if you do a serious analysis, some people would look as though they’re not performing at the optimum.”
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