Former Australia skipper Steve Waugh has slammed the International Cricket Council and top cricket boards, including the BCCI, for not caring about Test cricket after South Africa named a depleted red-ball squad for the tour of New Zealand, prioritizing its T20 league over the longest format.
Seven uncapped players will travel to Australia among a 15-man West Indies cricket squad to play two test matches Down Under in January.
The uncapped players are batter Zachary McCaskie, wicketkeeper Tevin Imlach; allrounders Justin Greaves, Kavem Hodge and Kevin Sinclair and fast bowlers Akeem Jordan and Shamar Joseph.
Team officials said Jayden Seales was unavailable for selection due to a shoulder injury and that Jason Holder and Kyle Mayers, Shai hope, Nicholas Pooran were not available because they wanted to explore Twenty20 league opportunities in January.
The announcement of the inexperienced squad caught the attention of former Australia captain Steve Waugh, who shared that he wants cricket’s governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), to intervene.
“They (West Indies) haven’t picked a full-strength Test team for a couple of years now. Someone like Nicholas Pooran is really a Test batsman who doesn’t play Test cricket. Jason Holder, probably their best player, is not playing now,” Waugh said.
‘Watered-down’ Test cricket
Barbados-based cricket commentator and host of the Line and Length cricket podcast, Barry Wilkinson, added that he lays the blame solely at the feet of the ICC, who has let the problem reach this point.
“The ICC has let the problem fester too long and it has become cancerous.
They’ve allowed leagues and individual territories to make rules for their players, and they have essentially contributed to the watered-down product of Test cricket and have become one of the most toothless organizations in world sport,” he remarked.
Wilkinson also shared that while this might be the weakest-ever West Indies team sent to Australia, stronger squads were deployed over the years and were hammered on Australian soil.
“We might say it’s an embarrassment, but we’ve been there with Lara, Ambrose, and Walsh, and we’ve been beaten badly.
It’s now 31 years since we’ve beaten Australia and while this might be the weakest team we’ve ever sent there, we’ve sent stronger teams and got beaten very badly,” Wilkinson said.