Carl Hooper blames IPL for harming West Indies cricket

With the West Indies not able to arrest the slide, Hooper has been sad for a long time

The struggle of the West Indies against India on Thursday seems to have disappointed their former skipper and Test veteran Carl Hooper. The former all-rounder felt the absence of some of the team’s marquee players and stated that IPL contracts have lured the youngsters, hurting West Indies’ Test cricket.

Hooper understands that the past disputes between the West Indies Cricket Board and players have already troubled the red-ball cricket while IPL has triggered the situation.

“We should have seen this coming [IPL impact on West Indies cricket]. T20 cricket is here to stay. You got more leagues in play than what it was five years ago. It is crazy. It is going to affect us because, for most young West Indies players, the ultimate aim is to sign a contract with an IPL side,” he said.

Owing to pay disputes and with the option of playing T20 leagues around the world, the likes of Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine preferred playing the shorter formats.

“The IPL is just a six-week window but we have had situations where we have had someone like Sunil Narine, who picked up six wickets in his last Test (in 2013), has not played for us again. Same goes for Gayle and Kieron Pollard,” he said.

“Evin Lewis just decided to push back on a central contract. He is good enough to play Test cricket. So the shorter versions of the game curtail our progress.

“I am not going to judge players who choose IPL for West Indies. You cannot be upset with a guy who doesn't want to sign a central contract as he wants to play in other leagues. It is a tough situation. Virat Kohli can stop playing today if he wants to but none of our guys can afford to do that," said Hooper.

With the West Indies not able to arrest the slide, Hooper has been sad for a long time.

“But I am still optimistic. The board needs to implement policies that take the game in the right direction. Your first-class level is probably good enough and that is why you can test Prithvi Shaw at such a young age. But ours is failing and to revive that, a lot of work needs to be done at U-16 and U-19 level,” he said.

Hope also feels that West Indies cricketers need to be paid better and corruption can never be rooted out of the game.