Sammy defiant over future for depleted West Indies side

West Indies captain Darren Sammy does not intend to abandon the side’s current philosophy despite criticism from the likes of Michael Holding and Ramnaresh Sarwan.

Many of the problems affecting the depleted touring team are down to individual player disputes with the West Indies Cricket Board – with the likes of Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Sunil Narine all missing from the current squad having opted to accept Indian Premier League contracts instead.

Former captain Gayle is the most eye-catching absentee due to a long-standing disagreement with the WICB, though that is believed to be close to settlement.

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But Sammy and coach Ottis Gibson have also been lambasted, with Holding being openly critical of the former’s place in the team and the latter’s man-management style.

Sarwan, currently playing county cricket with Leicestershire, has also spoken of a troubled relationship with Gibson.

But Sammy believes in what the pair are doing, which amounts to a bottom-up overhaul of the central tenets of Caribbean cricket.

“I think ever since I’ve been captain, people have been saying these things,” he said on the eve of the second Investec Test against England at Trent Bridge.

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“I try and do the best I can for the West Indies but everybody has an opinion and I respect that.

“Coach Gibson and myself are trying to build something for the future here. Everybody might not like it but the team has been responding in the last few series we’ve played.

“People are free to talk, it’s a free country.

“Ottis has made it known this West Indies team is a hard-working team.

“He (Gibson) came on board with a whole new idea – determination, working hard for yourself and the team, fitness. He wanted to play a brand of cricket where fans could see the determination and passion and see us competing against higher-ranked teams. So far we’ve been able to do that.

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“The West Indies have been going down to the bottom for the last 15 or so years and we kept doing the same things over and over again. Somebody said to me that if you do the same things over and over and expect change that’s crazy.”

England captain Andrew Strauss has reminded his players of their responsibilities after Kevin Pietersen’s latest Twitter faux pas.

Pietersen has been fined an undisclosed amount, reported to be £3,000, by the England and Wales Cricket Board after he criticised TV commentator Nick Knight on the social networking site.

“It’s not a big distraction for us and it’s not a massive issue from our point of view, but obviously we have conditions of employment that don’t allow us to talk about everything and anything (in public),” said Strauss.