OUTSPOKEN Jamaica and West Indies cricketer Daren Powell has announced his retirement from first-class and international cricket, while taking swipes at the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and its coach Ottis Gibson over recent events.

“I am retired from first-class and international cricket. I am out of the game now,” said Powell, who admitted that he had not yet officially informed (in writing) the Jamaica or West Indies cricket boards of his recent decision.

“I turned 33 on Friday, April 15, and I am not playing any cricket now. Trying to prove myself again for another year would be robbing another youngster from getting a chance,” he told the Observer in an interview.

Powell, who played 37 Test matches and 55 One-Day Internationals for the Caribbean team, bemoaned what he called the poor state of West Indies cricket and called for radical changes to be made to put the game back on a path of success.

“The (West Indies) Board lacks tactical awareness as far as the development of West Indies cricket is concerned. That has been proven over and over again,” said Powell, a medium-fast bowler and competent lower-order batsman.

“Instead of the Board and Gibson focusing so much on the senior players in West Indies cricket, I would rather see them channel that focus on the administration of cricket in the region, which is the main problem that the sport faces. The regional boards and the main board must be overhauled.

“So the West Indies Board is not examining the real problems facing cricket at the moment. The Board seems to be focusing on some people and not the growth of cricket.

“Our cricket is in a bad state. We’re not finding players who are coming through from the under-19s to come up and play and move forward like you have in the other world teams at the moment,” said Powell, who played his last Test match in March 2009 against England in Trinidad & Tobago.

Continuing, he insists, that the attention shown to players for them to develop, must be sharper.

“We have players looking good at the Under-19 level and when they get to Test level, they get a bunch of criticism and there is no one there helping their career to go any further.

“I would like to see the selectors sit down and come with some better tactics and awareness and put the good plans on the table that we are told they have to develop players,” Powell said.

The former St Elizabeth Technical High School player took issue with Gibson’s criticism of former captain Chris Gayle, among other senior players on the West Indies team, including Guyanese Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who, like Gayle, were not selected for the West Indies’ Twenty/20 match and first two ODIs in the upcoming home series against Pakistan.

Gibson, in his leaked World Cup report submitted to the West Indies Board, lashed out at Gayle and other players, saying among other things, in Gayle’s case, that the Jamaican left-handed opening batsman and former Test captain was not a natural leader and was not a student of the game.

Powell believes Gibson’s comments were out of order.

“Based on what I read about coach Ottis Gibson saying about Gayle not being tactically aware and is not a natural leader, there is no reason to target Gayle.

“For West Indies cricket to move forward, it is not about focusing on Gayle or the senior players on the team.

“When Gibson took the job as coach, I believed that he was the right person for it. But right now his mind seems to be elsewhere and he is not focusing on what should matter… the development of the cricket from the lower levels.

“Gibson’s mind seems to be too much on the senior players. We need for him to get the senior players to perform, yes, but at the same time we need to see changes made in the development of players from the youth level.

“We all want West Indies cricket to move forward, but we can’t spend so much time now focusing on Gayle, Sarwan, Chanderpaul, or the Bravos.

“We need to look from the Under-15 level and structure the game in such a way that when these same players get to 22-years-old they can match the other players on other international teams of the same age.

“We’re having guys coming up for the West Indies and playing two or three games and getting dropped. When you look at some of the guys who played in the World Cup, like Andre Russell for example, if he were a weak individual, he would not have played another game, because he performed well and got dropped for someone who is there just to spin a toss,” Powell said.

That spinner of the toss is an obvious reference to present captain Darren Sammy, who has underperformed with both bat and ball since his surprise appointment earlier this year and who has been facing mounting criticism from members of the cricket fraternity over his low level of productivity.

“If they are talking about tactical awareness, how can a Board or a coach not see that Darren Sammy cannot manage the leadership of the West Indies cricket team?

“The Board signed a contract with a player who is not the right man for the job. Unless he is injured, he will always play. His appointment has done nothing to his cricket… his batting has fallen off and he is not picking up any wickets with his bowling. So that is showing that he is under tremendous pressure and he is not the usual Darren Sammy who is always running around. His energy level has dropped dramatically. All of that is showing that he is under pressure and that is not his game.

“The West Indies team needs players who can control themselves under pressure and get the team to perform. When Gayle was captain, he did not win all his matches, but he showed that he could lead the team. He lost the captaincy, all because he did not sign a piece of paper. West Indies have dug themselves in a hole and they need to get themselves out.

“The Board is using players who they think they can manipulate. The Board should instead look for someone who can stand up and defend his players. Gayle, therefore, should return as captain,” he said.

Powell is awaiting a transfer from Kensington Cricket Club in order to again represent his parish of birth, St Elizabeth. He is also coaching Bethlehem Moravian College located at Malvern in the parish.