Cricket West Indies works on roadmap with 'about a hundred things to improve'

West Indies are "not in the same level-playing field as other playing countries", and an emergency meeting of Cricket West Indies (CWI), which included Brian Lara, Clive Lloyd, Viv Richards, Desmond Haynes, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and current head coach Daren Sammy, among others, has ended with a roadmap of sorts in place for a revival, but "it's a long road, it's not going to happen tomorrow". One of the immediate decisions is, as Lloyd said, to ask the ICC for a "special dispensation" - extra money keeping in mind West Indies' glorious past.

While those in attendance at a press briefing at the end of the two-day meeting in Trinidad - CWI bigwigs as well as Lloyd and Lara - said that a lot of ideas were thrown about, it was not yet time to announce them since they had to go through an internal process before being put into action. There was trepidation too, since the downward spiral of West Indies cricket has been quick and seemingly without end: "Hope to see them come to fruition," Lloyd said. "Sincerely hope this doesn't come to some damp squib."

"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," Chris Dehring, the CWI chief executive said.

"As the batting coach [Jimmy Adams] pointed out, 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. There are issues concerning strength and conditioning, which again points back to facilities which are available to youngsters and emerging players and 'A' teams, etc."

Dehring said that, among other things, CWI planned to have "a proper high-performance centre established in the region, a prototype that will then be modelled and imitated across the region, in other countries, [and] academy systems to ensure that the West Indies way of playing cricket is both documented and taught from very early".

The last time West Indies played Test cricket, at Sabina Park in Kingston against Australia, they were bowled out for 27, the second-lowest innings score in Test history and the lowest since 1955. The meeting was announced soon after that. Since then, West Indies have played ten white-ball games, winning two and losing eight.

"It's been that case for years, where we are not in the same level-playing field as other playing countries," Lara said. "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."

The challenges are "systemic", director of cricket Miles Bascombe said, and that they were "across our cricket system". The goal now, he said, was "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."

It's not new, the notion that modern-day West Indian cricketers, called mercenaries in the past, have prioritised franchise T20 leagues around the world, where they are in big demand, and the West Indies team has suffered as a result.

If that is the case, what is the way forward?

"West Indies cricket is still very important in the minds of all youngsters, male and female, and when looking at cricket as a career," Lara said in response to a question. "I think you have to understand that in different eras and decades, there are different motivational factors. In the '50s and early part of the '60s, we were thinking about the independence - we can show our colonisers that we can play cricket, we can govern ourselves. In the '70s and '80s, I believe that under Sir Clive, it was all about trying to be the best in the world. After learning from previous decades.

"Presently, if I can fast forward, the game has now very much commercialised. The franchise system is definitely in the mind of every young person, and every parent as well. When you see what's happening around the world with the IPL, the American cricket league [MLC] and much else. The motivational factors we have to tap into: what motivates youngsters today? It might not be just representing West Indies 365 days of the year. It might be playing in an IPL or a BBL or something else. We have to find out those interests and see where West Indies cricket can still benefit from the youngsters.

"It's unfortunate [that] a young man at the age of 29, like Nicholas Pooran, will call an end to his international career. Find out why these things are happening and how we can stem that sort of situation and we get the best players to play for West Indies. Australia, India and England and these countries benefit from wholeheartedness from their players, the passion that they have playing for their country. We have to get that to return to West Indies cricket."

The solution, Bascombe said, was that, "We will never be able to compete with franchise money, everybody acknowledges that. So it has to be pride. Pride in the performance and pride in representing the West Indies."

That, looking at the past many years, might be easier said that done.

"People must realise that T20 is an exhibition and Test cricket is an examination. When you are getting offered the type of money that these guys are being offered, there's only one way they'll go. It's a lot of money," Lloyd said. "The point is we have to try and keep the guys that we have, teach them the right things, and hope that our cricket will still be in shape."