FORMER West Indies and Jamaica bowlers Daren Powell and Nehemiah Perry believe the current Caribbean players should not allow reduced earnings to negatively affect their performances going forward.

Cricket West Indies’ (CWI) decision to cut the salaries of its men’s and women’s players by 25 per cent officially took effect following the announcement of the proposal in September. The move is one of several initiatives introduced by CWI to address its financial crisis.

As reported by the Jamaica Observer last month, Jamaicans Rovman Powell, John Campbell, Vitel Lawes, Stafanie Taylor, Chinelle Henry are among the 33 players who accepted CWI’s international retainer contracts, which run until September 2027.

There have been suggestions that players could lose form or lose motivation playing for the Caribbean team, given they’ll be earning less.

Former West Indies and Jamaica fast bowler Daren Powell.

However, former fast bowler Powell, who picked up over 150 wickets in 92 caps for the Windies, says salaries shouldn’t determine the standard of their performances, pointing to his own experience.

“When I started playing, I can remember, we had no contracts. I was earning less than [US]$200 per game. When you got into the West Indies team at the time, my highest pay was $1,500. We had a whole lot of arguments about pay cuts at that time, players not fit, and all sorts of things, why we weren’t winning cricket,” he told the Observer.

“We weren’t playing that bad, we were winning here and there. I think we were the only Test team until this date, who won a Test match in South Africa and look how many greats played before us and didn’t do that. So I don’t think it’s necessarily about a salary thing that causes players not to perform.”

Nehemiah Perry.

Powell believes the increased earnings and lifestyle distractions have contributed to the decline of West Indies cricket.

“What has happened over the years is we have players who have been earning more, doing more carelessness with their time, other than focusing on what they do to enhance their talent for them to become better players to compete against those who modelled a programme against the era of West Indies cricket when we were dominant, to beat us,” he said. “We earn money, we buy cars, we drink rum and we find more women, other than focusing on a better way to grow as a player and it went through a crack, until the crack became a hole, until the hole became a big open space, then we started realising that we need to start doing things differently.”

Former offspinner Perry, who represented the Windies 25 times across Tests and ODIs, believes pride should take precedence when playing for the regional team.

“The game itself is what’s going to make your name, it’s going to keep you relevant, it’s going to make you money down the road,” he told the Observer. “You must go out there and play with that same passion and pride. The driving force should not be money.

“Yes, money is important, and we’re not saying you must play cricket without pay, it is hard, if that’s what you do for a living, because you have your family to take care of, you have your bills to deal with, and so forth. But we have to now balance it and have that sit-down and that frank conversation as to where we are financially, and how you guys can help us out of this situation.”

West Indies captain Roston Chase (centre) celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of Bangladesh’s Towhid Hridoy during the third day of their first Test cricket match at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Saturday, November 7. (Photo: AFP)

Perry says players should recognise that the current salary situation is not necessarily permanent.

“Once funds start to flow back into the coffers of the West Indies Cricket Board, then we will go back to some sort of normalcy,” he said. “I don’t think the players should really take it as a long-term fix, but certainly they have to be mindful as well that the board is in a situation and at the end of the day … We are in a situation, and we have to work together as a team, and that will come out in a balanced situation.”

Powell believes the salary cut could be a blessing in disguise to help improve the players’ performances.

“This is forcing them now to really realise and wake up that what they are doing is way behind,” he said. “No wealthy guy plays sport in the region. If you check their background, if you check their history, they’re coming from poor families. This is an avenue for them to better themselves. You see all these millions going around and you have your God-given talent and because of a pay cut, you’re going to [decline]? That will never happen.”

“The ICC has been putting money in the big three — Australia, England and India and the other nations are suffering. So this was one of the avenues, again, to send another signal to the cricketing heads that we need help. But the players themselves need to do the right thing to make sure they can put themselves onto the bargaining table.”