Darren Sammy post match presentation speech: How the West Indies team united strongly against all the odds
Amidst all the euphoria of West Indies’ win over England and their historic treble of Men’s and Women’s T20 titles and U-19 World Cup title, Darren Sammy’s emotional post-match put things into perspective.
It has been a tumultuous past few months for the West Indies off the pitch, but on it, they have managed to remain focussed. Completing a treble of trophies in the just over three months of 2016 speaks volumes about the commitment of the players, despite the lack of support from the board.
Before the start of the tournament, in an article for ESPN Cricinfo, Mark Nicholas described the West Indies as a team of “no brains” and the team had difficulty in even getting their jerseys for the tournament and had little support from their own cricket board, from whom the team hadn't heard anything.
In his emotional post-match speech, Sammy spoke at length about the troubles that his team have had to face. He started off by praising the team and the support staff but then went on to explain the backdrop to their World T20 campaign.
Darren Sammy said: “Firstly, I want to thank the almighty. We have a pastor in the team - Andre Fletcher, who kept praying. Really happy with this win and this is something that we will cherish for a long time. I was serious hitting from Brathwaite. It said before that we have 15 match winners in the side. Every game somebody took responsibility.”
He also had plenty of praise for Carlos Brathwaite, who hit four successive sixes to win the final in his debut World Cup. When Nasser Hussain asked him to compare this win to their first World T20 win in 2012, Sammy first says, “Nass, do you really want me to tell you, okay” and then the speech starts.
“We started our journey. We all know what we had. People were wondering whether we would play this tournament. We had a lot of issues and we felt disrespected by our board. Mark Nicholas described our team as a team of 'no brains.' All these things just before the tournament brought this team together,” speaking of what happened before the start of the tournament.
Then he thanked the players once again and the support staff. “I want to really thank these 15 men with. The ability to put all those adversity aside and to come out and play this type of cricket in front of such passionate fans... it's just tremendous. I personally also want to thank the coaching staff. Coach Phil (Simmons). He's been through a lot. To come here and the way he's coached this team.. he's just brilliant. All the other coaching staff who have done their part.”
Then there is a special mention for their new manager Rawl Lewis and the things he had to do. “We had a new manager in this tournament in Rawl Lewis, who has never managed any team before. He came here. We had a camp in Dubai. We had no uniforms. No printing. He left Dubai, went to Kolkata. that's where we started. The trouble he went through to get us in this uniform,” he said.
Following which he once again thanked the players and dedicated the win to the fans and got more emotional.
“I got to give credit to the entire team here. It was us in our own little circle. We dedicate this win to all the fans in the Caribbean. And lastly, I want to find the heads Caricom. Throughout this tournament, they have been supporting the team. We have got emails, we have got calls.”
He even said that they got calls from the Prime Minister.
“Prime Minister Mitchell, I know what he's trying to do. I really want to thank him and he sent a very inspiring message to the team this morning... and we are yet to hear from our own cricket board and that is very disappointing.”
He then finished by saying that his future is uncertain but he wants to celebrate this victory with the players and coaching staff that made it all possible.
Also read: Why is West Indian Cricket in such a terrible state?
“For today, I am going to celebrate with these 15 men and this coaching staff. I don't know when I am going to be playing with these guys again because we don't get selected for one-day cricket. We don't know when we are going to be playing T20s. So this win, I want to thank you, my team. I want to thank you, coaching staff. Everybody in the West Indies are champion."