Port of Spain, Aug 12 : The West Indies are currently "not in the same level-playing field as other playing countries,' prompting an emergency meeting convened by Cricket West Indies (CWI). The gathering, which included legends such as Brian Lara, Clive Lloyd, Viv Richards, Desmond Haynes, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, and current head coach Daren Sammy, concluded with a preliminary roadmap aimed at reviving West Indies cricket. However, as noted by participants, 'it's a long road, it's not going to happen tomorrow".

One of the immediate outcomes from the meeting, as Clive Lloyd revealed, is a plan to request a "special dispensation" from the ICC - essentially, additional financial support in recognition of the West Indies' rich cricketing legacy.

Though CWI executives and cricketing greats such as Lloyd and Lara acknowledged that numerous ideas were discussed during the two-day session in Trinidad, they emphasised that these ideas still need to undergo an internal process before any official announcements can be made. There was also a sense of apprehension due to the rapid and seemingly unending decline of West Indies cricket. 'Hope to see them come to fruition,' said Lloyd. 'Sincerely hope this doesn't come to some damp squib.'

According to CWI chief executive Chris Dehring, 'We have identified a list of about a hundred things that we have to improve, but probably among the top five: facilities at every level for our cricketers; practice pitches across the region; the quality of our domestic tournaments, there's definitely a skills deficiency at various levels that don't get highlighted till they reach international levels and then you see the glaring deficiencies vis-a-vis our international counterparts, which again is systemic.'

Dehring added that Jimmy Adams, the batting coach, had raised concerns, saying 'it's very difficult to change habits when you are getting somebody who has made so many runs at regional level but clearly has deficiencies when it comes to international level. It's very difficult to change in a couple of weeks.' He also emphasised the challenges around strength and conditioning, noting that these concerns again highlight the inadequacy of facilities for young, emerging and 'A' team players.

Among the solutions CWI is working towards is the establishment of 'a proper high-performance centre established in the region, a prototype that will then be modelled and imitated across the region, in other countries,' along with academy systems designed to ensure that 'the West Indies way of playing cricket is both documented and taught from very early.'

The urgency of this overhaul was underlined by the recent performance in Test cricket at Sabina Park in Kingston, where West Indies were dismissed for just 27 against Australia ' the second-lowest score in Test history, and the lowest since 1955. The meeting was announced shortly after that game. Since then, West Indies have participated in ten white-ball matches, winning only two and losing eight.

Brian Lara reflected on the larger picture. 'It's been that case for years, where we are not on the same level-playing field as other playing countries. Back in the days when skill was the prominent factor, we excelled, we were the best team in the world. But the game has evolved, and technology and analytics, and we now have to see a new way of finding ourselves back to being very competitive. I said not a level-playing field because a lot of the countries are far ahead in these sorts of areas. The skill factor of the game is still there, but not as prominent as it was in the past.'

'It's a long road; it's not going to happen tomorrow. It was not about the 27 runs. If it was 57 or 107, will we be feeling any better? I don't think so. It was the fact that we've got something to address, and for us to get back on top, or to be a competitive nation in world cricket, we've got to address these situations and address them shortly, quickly, and hopefully we can reap the benefits in the years to come," Lara added.

CWI's director of cricket, Miles Bascombe, described the problems as 'systemic' and 'across our cricket system". He emphasised the goal now is 'identifying the challenges at every level of our production pipeline and how to put all of that together. To have a holistic solution and then we will engage all of the stakeholders necessary to help us along the way".

/IANS