We still have a pretty good relationship with India: Drakes

Drakes’ most notable performance was his unbeaten 27, against Australia in Antigua, where his team chased down 417 successfully. Drakes also figures in a short list of five batsmen in the history of first-class cricket to be dismissed ‘timed out’. 

His flight to South Africa, where the match was played, had been delayed by several hours and he landed at the airport with his pads on. However, he couldn’t make it in time resulting in being timed out. In the city as the coach of women’s contingent, Drakes spoke on a variety of topics.

 I guess we can do with the fact that if the Indian cricket board decides not to squeeze us and give us 43 million back, we can put ourselves in a situation where we can develop the game of cricket. We always had an excellent relationship with BCCI and playing India was always the highlight as West Indians. I seriously think we have made some progress. Our U-19 team won the World Cup and it is a step in the right direction.

If you have finances, we can grow the game. India has invested in the game and is now producing fantastic cricketers. It is a matter of replicating it and for us to copy that we need money and that is our biggest challenge.

It was unfortunate. We had and still have a pretty good relationship with India and still rely on India for the bilateral tours, in terms of generating revenue into our cricket. Certainly, the public weren’t pleased with the stand everyone took. It definitely would have affected the moral of the supporters of the cricketers in the Caribbean.