Deandra Dottin warns West Indies to get their house in order

Former international star now on franchise circuit calls for players to be better respected and resourced

Valkerie Baynes and Firdose Moonda23-Aug-20231:25

Dottin: ‘There are players who are not getting support and respect from West Indies cricket’

Deandra Dottin has warned West Indies to get their house in order quickly or risk things «not ending well» in an impassioned plea for players to be better respected and resourced.Speaking in detail for the first time since her shock international retirement, Dottin told the Ladies Who Switch podcast that the board has a lot of work to do for the game to improve in the Caribbean.»To be honest, there’s been a lot going on in the camp and so much I’ve been through, so many things that needed to be sorted out, and the players not getting the respect and basically the attention because there are things that needed to be done in order for players to actually perform to the best of their ability,» Dottin said. «If you’re uncomfortable and if you don’t have the things in place for your players to be the best that they can be and actually improve then there’s always going to be problems.»Dottin announced her West Indies retirement via Twitter, citing issues with the team environment, a year ago while representing Barbados at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. So ended a decorated international career spanning 143 ODIs and 127 T20Is over the course of 14 years which included the 2016 T20 World Cup title and the fastest — and first — century in Women’s T20 Internationals, off 38 balls against South Africa in 2010.Now she is among a growing number of players across both men’s and women’s cricket plying their trade solely in franchise tournaments around the world. That includes playing for Manchester Originals in the Hundred, helping Adelaide Strikers to the WBBL title last season and Trinbago Knight Riders to the inaugural CPL trophy as well as representing Barmy Army at the FairBreak Invitational. She also plays regional cricket in the UK for Lancashire-based Thunder, whose set-up she described as «way better than the structure that was with West Indies Cricket for years».Related

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«This is basically me right now, playing in franchise,» she says. «I’m still looking to achieve just what I wanted to achieve when I was playing West Indies Cricket, to be the best in the world, to be like one of those number one players to be reckoned with.»I’m known as the power hitter, and versatile in the field — a good fielder, a bowler that can knock over a couple of people. But I just want to be, to remember the person I am. That’s Deandra Dottin, known as the world boss. Every day is learning a learning curve for me. I’m not too old to learn.»She says she has had «no second thoughts» about retiring from international cricket, calling for better support for West Indies players and improvements in their regional structure.»It has a lot to do with the board, how they handle stuff and how they handle players and how they actually speak to players,» Dottin said. «Certain people take things different, so it is a lot of work that West Indies Cricket will need to be done and I think they need to do it as fast as possible because it’s not going to end well for West Indies Cricket or cricket in the Caribbean.»They need to take a leaf out of Australia and English books, where they have players that when they see potential in them they develop them from whatever stage they are, so that when they actually get into that senior level it’s like they have played there before.»You will see a player come into West Indies Cricket and then you actually see they disappear. It’s probably because of their fitness or whatever the case may be, but in that case, if I’m seeing you struggling with something, then I want to help, I would want to help you in order for you to get better to play West Indies Cricket. But my thing is that it’s basically like you’re getting what you want out of me and then you just throw me aside.»I don’t think that that should be, as players, not even players that actually retire either. You should actually show the players respect because they were once West Indies players and they were once doing well for West Indies Cricket so why take them and disrespect them and just throw them aside like a wet rag?»

Thanks to all for the love and support with in my past 14 years of playing cricket for West Indies! I look forward to be playing domestic cricket around the world pic.twitter.com/Vmw6AqpYQJ

— Deandra Dottin (@Dottin_5) July 31, 2022