BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Chief executive officer of Cricket West Indies Johnny Grave wants more respect to be given to West Indies players.
His comments have come in the wake of the regional team’s commanding win over England on Saturday, which saw them take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
The Windies, the eighth ranked Test nation destroyed the number three rated English outfit by 381 runs inside four days at Kensington Oval on Saturday.
Before the start of the opening Test match, former England batsman Geoffrey Boycott described the West Indies as “very ordinary, average cricketers”, while another former player in Andrew Flintoff said the “world’s gone mad” after West Indies captain Jason Holder made 202 not out in the second innings.
However, Grave described those comments as being “borderline disrespectful” and “completely unwarranted”.
“Criticism of our players and suggestions that they’re not world class is unfair. They are so dedicated. We’ve got 11 cricketers here and many more in the region who want to play Test cricket,” the CEO said.
“I saw Andrew Flintoff say he can’t believe Jason Holder got a double hundred, yet I think Jason Holder is a fantastic cricketer and has been performing so fantastically over the last 18 months – a brilliant captain.”
The 41-year-old Flintoff averaged 31.77 with the bat and 32.78 with the ball in his 79-Test career, while Holder is currently averaging 33.86 with the bat and 28.29 with the ball in 36 matches.
