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FORMER West Indies captain Carl Hooper said current West Indies coach Daren Sammy has to take responsibility for his team's showing in the third and final Test versus Australia at Sabina Park in Jamaica, which saw the regional team being bowled out for just 27 to fall to a 176-run loss on July 14.
Set 204 for victory after fast bowlers Alzarri Joseph (five for 27) and Shamar Joseph (four for 34) combined for nine wickets in the Aussies' second innings, the Windies batsmen once again capitulated against a high-quality pace attack to be bowled out for the second-lowest score in Test history and the regional team's worst-ever total. The West Indies almost equalled the lowest Test score of 26, which was made by New Zealand against England in 1955. The heavy defeat gave Australia a 3-0 series sweep.
West Indies' previous lowest Test score of 47 came at the Sabina Park venue in 2004 when Steve Harmison's spell of seven for 12 bowled England to a comprehensive 10-wicket win.
This time, in Sabina Park's first pink-ball, day/night Test, it was the wicked left-arm swing of Mitchell Starc (six for nine) and the accurate right-arm seam of Scott Boland (three for two) that decimated the West Indies batting lineup. West Indies picked up another unwanted record along the way as the seven ducks in the second innings were a record-high in Test history.
"It's been so disappointing. I'm angry and upset because I think we were building a good thing a few years ago," said Hooper, during the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's post-match coverage of the Kingston Test.
"The boys came out here (to Australia) and had a fantastic Test match win in Brisbane – a drawn series. And then we went to Pakistan and drew 1-1. Those were fantastic results," said Hooper, who played over 300 matches for the Windies from 1987 to 2003.
"And then we had wholesale changes. And to see this as the end result, it's like what we have done for the last two-three years in trying to build something has just sort of gone up in flames today."
The 1-1 draw away to Australia was in February 2024. The 1-1 draw away to Pakistan came in January of this year and was the last Test series under former Test coach Andre Coley. On both occasions, the Windies battled back admirably after being beaten handily in the first Test.
Sammy has been serving as the West Indies' One-day International (ODI) and T20 coach since May 2023. Last December, Sammy crucially received an additional assignment when Cricket West Indies announced the St Lucian would be taking over the reins of Test team from April 1, 2025.
"Somebody needs to be answerable. I think he (Sammy) is also the only selector. So, just imagine someone who's picking the Australian team and is also the head coach. He's got all the power, so he has to be held accountable. I know that's not going to happen – they're not going to remove him."
With the crushing loss, Hooper fears a team that was showing signs of promise in recent times is now on a downward trajectory again.
"I think we were building something under the former head coach Andre Coley, who we removed and inserted the new head coach Daren Sammy.
"Now, you sort of take one step forward and then now two back because where do you go from here? We've got India coming up in a couple of months in a (two-Test) series which is going to be tough. And then you've got New Zealand, so it's not like if we can see some light at the end of the tunnel with a few easy oppositions...you just have to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and try and get right for India."
The Windies will travel to India in October, with a three-Test series away to New Zealand scheduled for December. The latter Test series will follow a five-match T20 series and a three-match ODI series against the Kiwis. Before the India series, new Test captain Roston Chase suggested that the regional team should host some batting camps catered to playing spin bowling to prepare the team for the conditions they anticipate in the sub-continent.
While the Windies were bowled out for a paltry 27 in the final innings of the series, their batting display throughout the three-match series also left a lot to be desired as they failed to cross the 200-run mark on four other occasions.
In the immediate future, West Indies will aim to bounce back when they face the Aussies in a five-match T20 series from July 20-28.
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