Dyson: Clean up domestic game

West Indies coach calls for shake-up after series whitewash

Last updated: 17th November 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Dyson: Clean up domestic game

Dyson: Calling for shake-up

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West Indies coach John Dyson has blamed the standard of the nation's domestic game, saying that it is failing to produce players ready for the rigours of international cricket.

The West Indies, with four debutants in the squad, suffered a 3-0 whitewash against Pakistan in the three match one-day series in Abu Dhabi.

And Dyson now hopes that the series defeat will provide several lessons for the future.

"Unfortunately the frustrating part is that international sport is about winning, the frustration as coach is that the newcomers don't have the basic skills for this kind of cricket," said Dyson.

All-rounder Brendan Nash, spinner Nikita Miller, and pacemen Lionel Baker and Shawn Findlay were the newcomers who all played in West Indies' 31-run defeat in the final match at the Zayed Stadium.

Quality

Among the debutants, the 24-year-old Baker stood out with a three-wicket haul in the series opener, a match Pakistan won by four wickets in a thriller that was decided in the final over.

Former Australia international Dyson, who was appointed national team coach in 2007, claims he has been telling the West Indies Cricket Board to improve the standard of regional cricket for some time.

"If you look at the Australian system, by the time a player comes into the Australian team he has played umpteen number of matches in the Sheffield Shield cricket which is very good quality...so he is ready to play internationally," he said.

Dyson, who also coached Sri Lanka, said that the quality of regional West Indies cricket was "nowhere near" the standard of Australian Sheffield Shield cricket, and was generating players that "are unprepared to play against international teams."

"At this level it's about trying to win matches, it shouldn't be about trying to teach the players how to play international matches," he said

"Newcomers will have to learn the basics of international cricket, other countries have strong systems and have very, very strong basics, so they are doing well."