The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is "doing everything wrong and expecting the right results."

That is the view of former West Indies pacer Tony Gray in the wake of the regional team’s most recent defeat at the hands of Zimbabwe in the lone Twenty20 of the 2010 home series against the Africans on Sunday at the Queen’s Park Oval.

Gray said there is a ’team off the field of play that impacts the team on the field of play’, namely the administrative and support staff.

The University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) cricket coach lamented that a lot of the systems that worked for the regional team in the past have been stripped away, such as the mentorship, and other traditions that once aided younger players in developing as international players.

He pointed out that there is sufficient talent in the region, stating that a team ’is only as strong as its bench’, the players on the fringe of the first XI.

’Obviously we have to work on the development stages, but we sort of isolate progress of players to mean they have to score runs and take wickets and catches. There is a lot more to the game than that,’ Gray told the Express.

Gray also criticised the selection of a batting line-up that was not ’stable’, with many players affected by injury, including Adrian Barath, Shiv Chanderpaul and Darren Bravo, while describing opener Andre Fletcher as ’inconsistent’.

’When you look at our batting, it’s a frail, fragile batting line-up. They didn’t pick anybody in the top order who played in Australia,’ he pointed out.

Gray also felt the regional team may have been complacent in chasing an ’easy’ target.

’(A score like 106) to win should be really easy, but in saying that, Zimbabwe have come here with a higher purpose to get back into Test cricket, and once there is a collective spirit, things can happen, especially when the West Indies is not a stable team at all.’

Former West Indies chairman of selectors Joey Carew described the loss as ’humiliating’, saying West Indies made ’heavy weather’ of the match.

The visitors recovered from three wickets down without a run on the board to post 105, while West Indies stumbled to 79 for seven in their 20 overs.

’There are some batsmen on the team who really can’t play spin you would see for yourself that some of them looked all at sea,’ said Carew, adding that some members of the crowd even booed the regional team after the match.

He also blamed ’politics’ for some of the team selections.

Was it a predictable loss the former West Indies Test batsman was asked.

’Not at all. I couldn’t see it coming and it was definitely a surprise to me. They’re (Windies) not an international team. Certainly not in the batting, and I doubt on a good wicket they’re capable of getting anybody out cheaply. I am concerned with our performance. We have to dominate these teams.’

Carew is proposing a fresh start. He suggested developing a ’nucleus of talented players’ from the last two regional Under-19 squads that would form the backbone of the future Windies team.

These players, plus some of the most consistent players from the regional tournament, should form a development team which is periodically assessed and amended to find the right mix.

(Trinidad & Tobago Express)

Said Carew: ’You want to coach a feller like (Jason) Holder, and (Kraigg) Braithwaite from Barbados, Andre Creary from Jamaica that is where we have to go.’

Such performances as Sunday’s debacle, Carew feels, highlighted the ’contributions’ of former batting star Brian Lara to West Indies cricket.

’It goes to show what his contributions were, especially in terms of batting. He’s an icon that will certainly remain in our memory, in our minds for a long, long time."

(Trinidad & Tobago Express)