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‘Simmons not only one responsible’ – former WI wicketkeeper hopes other parties responsible for cricket decline do honourable thing
Written by Kwesi Mugisa. Posted in Windies. | 16 December 2022 | 721 Views
Tags: Cricket, Caribbean, Deryck Murray, Phil Simmons, West Indies, Windies

Renowned former West Indies wicketkeeper, Deryck Murray, has commended the team’s coach Phil Simmons for stepping down from the post but insists he is far from the only one who should be doing so.

The regional team has endured a particularly wretched run of form across all formats in recent months.  A poor showing at the T20 World Cup saw the two-time champions embarrassingly eliminated in the first round of the competition after loses to Scotland and Ireland.

In the aftermath, Simmons, and, then later team captain Nicholas Pooran, resigned their positions.  The Test team then traveled to Australia to face the home team in a two-match series where they were badly outplayed.  In the second Test, for instance, the team lost by a massive 419 runs after being bowled out for 77.

In light of such performances, Murray believes there needs to be many more changes at the broader management level than just Simmons, if the team is to truly start moving forward. 

 “I want to commend Phil Simmons he has done the honourable thing. 
He was responsible for the team when we did not qualify for the T20 World cup and he did the hourrable thing,” Murray told the Mason and Guest radio program.

“We should not assume for one minute, however, that one man, Philip Simmons, is responsible for the decline, for the losses of West Indies cricket," he added.

“I keep looking to see others follow suite but nothing like that has happened…”

Murray went on to state that he believed the entire government system surrounding the sport in the region needed to change.