'Sammy sacking premature'

News

Cricket365
May 14, 2014

Former West Indies Cricket Board chief executive Ernest Hilaire has questioned the timing of all-rounder Darren Sammy's dismissal as Test captain.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Denesh Ramdin will succeed Sammy, who lost the ODI captaincy to the veteran Dwayne Bravo recently – but will continue to lead the T20I unit.

Batsman Chris Gayle's decision to not sign a central contract saw Sammy handed the reins of the Test team more than three years ago. The Windies have since suffered six series defeats across a dozen tours, with four victories and two draws.

"As to whether the sacking is the best timing, personally I think it is premature," Hilaire told <i>HTS Channel Four</i>. "I think there was always an understanding that Darren was going to be interim as a new team was being built.

"And that he was going to lead the interim and rebuilding phase until the team had reached a stage and had the players that would constitute what one could call the ideal team structure.

"As to whether the West Indies have reached that stage, I don't think so. I still don't think they have all the requirements in place where they can move in that direction and therefore it is probably premature to have removed Darren as captain, and certainly discarded of him as even a player."

The 29-year-old Ramdin captained the ODI outfit to a 40-run triumph over Bangladesh at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur in October 2011 – but has not yet led the Test team.