Windies Seek Legends' Help After Australia Debacle

West Indies will activity nan proposal of legendary erstwhile players Sir Viv Richards, Sir Clive Lloyd and Brian Lara pursuing nan Test side's crushing conclusion by Australia.

They were bowled retired for conscionable 27 - nan second-lowest people successful Test history, and nan worst since 1955 - arsenic they mislaid nan 3rd Test successful Jamaica to succumb to a bid cleanable sweep.

In response, Cricket West Indies president Dr Kishore Shallow has called for an emergency gathering to reappraisal nan bid and nan last lucifer successful particular.

Given nan side's ongoing struggles pinch nan bat, Richards, Lloyd and Lara - "our top batsmen ever" according to Dr Shallow - person been invited to be nan meeting.

They will subordinate chap West Indies batting greats Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Desmond Haynes, and erstwhile accelerated bowler Ian Bradshaw, who already service connected nan cricket strategy and officiating committee.

"This engagement is not ceremonial," a connection from Dr Shallow read. "These are men who helped specify our aureate eras, and their perspectives will beryllium invaluable arsenic we style nan adjacent shape of our cricket development.

"We intend for this gathering to consequence successful tangible, actionable recommendations."

Shallow insisted nan squad is successful "a rebuilding phase" and finance is being made to reignite nan "spirit that has agelong made West Indies cricket a unit successful nan world".

He added: "Progress is seldom straightforward. It takes time, perseverance and belief, particularly successful our astir difficult moments.

"There is overmuch activity to beryllium done. But we must do it pinch purpose, and we must do it together."

West Indies person been battling pinch "systemic issues" for 25 years that person near them pinch players "ill-equipped" to woody pinch nan challenges they faced against Australia, according to Trinidadian commentator Fazeer Mohammed.

"It was almost nan cleanable storm," he told BBC Sport.

"You've sewage Mitchell Starc, a world people bowler, deadly successful immoderate benignant of business and moreover deadlier pinch nan pinkish ball, coming up against players really ill-equipped to woody pinch those sorts of challenges.

"Everything was group up for thing for illustration this to happen. You ne'er really facet successful 27 each retired but, successful nan wide discourse of West Indies cricket, this was an mishap waiting to happen."

While Lara has been drafted successful to thief find a solution to nan problems facing nan existent side, Mohammed believes nan iconic left-hander's heroics were portion of nan logic a batch of nan issues were masked for truthful long.

"What lies down it is nan nonaccomplishment to reside nan basal challenges successful our home crippled - successful our location game," he added.

"We person galore different challenges. Fundamental to those would beryllium costs because we person galore different territories - it's very costly to recreation astir nan Caribbean, to big tournaments.

"There's an aerial of resignation astir it. People will this greeting beryllium arguing amongst themselves and debating astir really this tin happen, who needs to beryllium fired, who needs to beryllium dropped, who needs to beryllium sewage free of.

"It's nan aforesaid benignant of knee-jerk guidance and past they'll motion their shoulders and opportunity 'well this is really it is now'."

It is almost 2 and a half years since West Indies past won a Test bid - 1-0 successful Zimbabwe - and 3 years since their past location bid victory, 2-0 against Bangladesh.

"I don't deliberation each is mislaid by immoderate agelong of nan imagination," Mohammed said.

"It requires astatine a very basal level astatine nan schools, astatine nan under-19, under-23 levels a superior financial finance successful increasing nan value of nan crippled - antheral and female.

"But besides location has to be, first and foremost, that nickname that Test cricket still intends thing to america successful nan Caribbean."