West Indies Dwayne Bravo has blamed the board and it’s decision to sack head coach Phil Simmons prior to the start of series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates that left the Caribbean side demoralised.
“We won the World Cup T20 and we played well in the tri-nation ODI series against Australia and South Africa,” said Bravo. “Still, moments before the team was due to fly to Dubai, they [WICB] fired the coach. So it definitely affected the morale of the team and the players.”
The all-rounder also revealed that the former coach had built up a very positive environment for the players, something which is now missing from the squad.
After Simmons’ removal, the West Indies were whitewashed in both T20I and ODI series against Pakistan, and Bravo asserted that the players and the management appeared ‘lost’ throughout the series.
“I was there in Dubai and the players were lost, even the management looked lost,” he said. “We looked like school kids again.”
Simmons was the third influential member of the team management, after Darren Sammy and Curtly Ambrose, who have been sacked in less than six months since West Indies’ historic World T20 victory.