West Indies legends demand major shake-up

Trinidad: West Indies legends Desmond Haynes and Deryck Murray have called for a major shake-up in the structure of cricket in the Caribbean in order to drag the team out of the doldrums.

The comments of former Windies captain and opening batsman Haynes, and former vice-captain and wicketkeeper Murray, came in the wake of the West Indies losing the opening Test of the two-match series against Sri Lanka by 121 runs on Wednesday.

Haynes, who played 116 Tests and 237 ODI between 1978 and 1994, pleaded with the West Indies Cricket Board to establish a long overdue academy.

"Too much money is being spent by the WICB by bringing in these coaches from outside, when we in the Caribbean can do a better job," he said.

Haynes feels more resources should be concentrated on cricket at the youth level in the Caribbean and into moulding players into winners.

"I am saying that a cricket academy in the West Indies is very crucial to our success," he said.

"The former great players might not want to travel with the team day in, day out, but they may want to still assist the players.

"Remember, these guys have families, and they would have travelled a lot during their playing days. Now they may not want to continue that, but more importantly, I think that they will be better served at the Academy than being around the Test team for just a few days before a match."