St John’s (Antigua): The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) on Monday hit back at captain Darren Sammy after he criticised it in the wake of his side’s victory over England in the World Twenty20 final at Kolkata in India.
Sammy said after the match that his team felt “disrespected by our board”, referring to the lengthy pay dispute that had put their participation in the tournament in jeopardy.
But the board later released a statement congratulating the team and also termed Sammy’s comments “inappropriate”.
“The president would like to, however, apologise for what could be deemed inappropriate, comments made by the West Indies’ male captain, Darren Sammy in a post-match interview and would like to apologise on behalf of the WICB to the millions of fans who witnessed (sic),” the West Indies Cricket Board said in a statement.
“The president has pledged to enquire the reason and will have the matter addressed,” the statement added.
Sammy spoke about their problems with the board after their emphatic victory against England in the final in Kolkata on Sunday.
“We had issues with the board (WICB), Mark Nicholas called us players with no brain. But all of us came together, these 15 men put adversity aside, play this type of cricket in front of such passionate fans. It was tremendous. I want to thank the coaching team, Phil Simmons,” Sammy said at the post-match presentation ceremony on Sunday.
“We had a new manager in this tournament. Got to give credit to the entire team here. This is for all the fans in the Caribbean. I don’t know when I’m going to be playing for West Indies again, I want to thank my team, thank my coaching staff. This is for the champions!” the skipper added.
