West Indies 'hedging our bets' as fear over two-tier WTC grows
"We are just two years out of being in that group [the lower tier] for 100 years," warns Lloyd
ESPNcricinfo staff
12-Aug-2025 • 3 hrs ago
The fast bowlers have been the only bright spark in Test cricket for West Indies • AFP/Getty Images
If the ICC does decide that a two-tier system is best for the World Test Championship (WTC), West Indies could well be one of the teams outside the top tier - they were eighth out of nine teams in each of the three editions so far and have lost each of their three Tests in the ongoing cycle, to Australia. It's a possibility the stakeholders in West Indies cricket are wary of - Clive Lloyd is worried about "being in that group for a hundred years" - and they are hoping to have a say in it, as Cricket West Indies (CWI) chief executive Chris Dehring put it.
"All of that we have a role to play [in], we have a seat at the table at the ICC," Dehring said at a press conference after the CWI's emergency meeting in Trinidad on Sunday and Monday, organised in the aftermath of their 27 all out at Sabina Park against Australia. "We have to just stay abreast as close as possible to all the changes that could happen, position ourselves, hedging our bets so to speak, to make sure we are in there as West Indies cricket no matter which way the wind blows and try to take advantage of it."
The ICC last month formed a working group, led by former New Zealand batter Roger Twose, to look into, among other things, improving the WTC ahead of the 2025-2027 cycle. A two-tier system was among the most significant topics discussed at the ICC annual conference in July. Twose, New Zealand Cricket's (NZC) representative on the ICC Board, is expected to make recommendations to the board.
A two-tier WTC has been debated for more than 15 years, with the ICC showing its willingness to consider the idea as far back as 2009, though Full Members have been split on the issue for various reasons.
Lloyd, one of the former cricketers - along with Brian Lara, Viv Richards and others - who were invited to be part of the meeting, pointed his finger at the share of the ICC pie that the member boards are given, saying that West Indies, as the top team in the 1970s and 1980s, and a force even in the 1990s, deserved consideration despite their falling standards.
"We have to look at what's happening at the ICC with the shareout of the money. India, Australia and England get 180 million and West Indies will get 80 million like Bangladesh and Afghanistan, and we are just two years out of being in that group for 100 years," Lloyd said. "To me, it's not right. We have to stand up. We have to go to the ICC and ask for special dispensation. Because when we were in the ascendancy, and we were playing so well, everyone wanted to play with us.
"We were playing Australia very often, with England very often, and when we went to Pakistan or India, getting millions of people [to the grounds]. We need to get a better share of the pie, because we were the cash cows for a long time. And we need to get some of that. I am hoping the board follows up on that recommendation where we can be adequately given the money that is needed."
Daren Sammy's stint as West Indies' Test coach began with a crushing 3-0 defeat•Getty Images
Is Daren Sammy's honeymoon period over?
Daren Sammy, the former allrounder and captain of the West Indies teams that won the World Cup in 2012 and 2016, took over as the all-format West Indies coach in April this year. All three of their Tests since then have been lost. Australia were the opponents, in the Caribbean, and were favourites, but 3-0 was a bit too one-sided, and the 27 all out in the last innings of the series was humiliating.
Was it the wrong call to increase Sammy's responsibilities?
Miles Bascombe, the CWI director of cricket, pointed to the handicaps Sammy had been working with, but didn't confirm or deny anything about the future.
"We still need additional support for him. We still have to have camps. Many times, he would not be available himself, because he would be on tour. We still need to bring in other support staff, which would come at a cost. There was no financial consideration in terms of merging the roles," Bascombe said. "The underlying reason [for choosing Sammy] was that we felt Daren had been able to articulate a clear plan, and we saw him do that in the white-ball formats, both T20 and ODI. And we pretty much wanted the same sort of approach. We saw some success once we had gotten that done. And we wanted to see that approach in Test cricket.
"He is still only one series into his tenure as all-format coach, and while the 27 might be the highlight, or lowlight, of that series, we have to admit that we saw substantial improvement in terms of our bowling unit. We saw even Brandon King, who is one of those players who some persons might have pigeonholed as a white-ball player, was able to show that he was up for the challenge for Test cricket. Some light there.
"As Daren goes on, and as we start to put some of the strategic initiatives in place, we expect that performances will be better."