Cricket’s governing body the International Cricket Council (ICC) took the unusual step yesterday of publicly criticising the West Indies team for its conduct after the team won the World Twenty20 tournament in India, saying it had considered bringing disciplinary charges against the players.
West Indies beat England by four wickets in the April 3 final after Carlos Brathwaite blasted four straight sixes in the final over.
After meeting Sunday at its headquarters in Dubai, the ICC board said certain comments and actions were inappropriate, disrespectful and brought the event into disrepute.
In a release, the ICC stated: “The Board considered the behaviour of some of the West Indies players in the immediate aftermath of the final, and unanimously agreed that certain comments and actions were inappropriate, disrespectful and brought the event into disrepute. The Board acknowledged an apology by the WICB but was disappointed to note that such behaviour had detracted from the success of what was otherwise a magnificent tournament and final.”
ICC Chairman Shashank Manohar said: “The sport of cricket is proud of its unique spirit and this involves being gracious in victory as well as defeat and respectful at all times to the game, one’s opponents, the sponsors and the fans.”
After their victory secured their second World T20 title, West Indies captain Darren Sammy thanked his team-mates, supporters and the heads of CARICOM — in particular Keith Mitchell, the Prime Minister of Grenada, who helped broker a last-minute deal to get the players to the torunament - but added that no one from the board had been in touch in spite of their team’s triumph.
All rounder Dwayne Bravo also chimed in saying that the WICB was the most unprofessional board in the world and called WICB president Dave Cameron “immature”, “small-minded” and “arrogant”.
The Board also noted that very serious consideration had been given to bringing Code of Conduct charges in respect of the behaviour of the West Indies players and emphasised that this was not acceptable conduct at ICC Events played out on a world stage in front of millions of people around the globe.
In an immediate response Cameron said as far as he is concerned the matter was over. “We did what we thought was right immediately after and we sent an apology to the ICC and as you would notice it was taken into account when they looked at the entire situation.
“I was not there at the ICC meeting, I was in Jamaica and from what I understand they considered very closely whether they should have brought the ICC Code of Conduct charges in the matter.”
Cameron said that the WICB will take no action against the players for their behaviour as the matter has been put to rest and he hopes it does not happen again.