FORMER West Indies fast bowler Sir Andy Roberts says the players have only themselves to blame for their exit from the ICC T20 World Cup.

The Windies, former champions, lost to Ireland by nine wickets in Tasmania, Australia, on Friday morning, finishing last in Group B of the first round, which serves as a qualifier to the World Cup proper. It was their second defeat of the group, having lost their opener by 42 runs to Scotland on Sunday. The sole win against Zimbabwe, by 31 runs, was not enough to put them into the Super 12 stage.

Sir Andy, an Antiguan who won the ICC Men’s World Cup [One-Day International (ODI) format] in 1975 and 1979, says that while he is saddened by the outcome, he is not surprised.

“I said earlier that we are going to struggle to get through the qualifying round,” Sir Andy said during the Good Morning JoJo sports show on Antigua-based Observer Radio. “We should never have put ourselves in that position where we have to struggle with Zimbabwe, Ireland and Scotland. It’s not something that we should be proud about, seeing that most of what was said over the years has passed on deaf ears. I can only blame our players for what is happening in our cricket. The players must shoulder the responsibility and decide from here on that they are going to improve their cricket. Until our batsmen, especially, improve on their batting, we’re not going anywhere.”

Sir Andy was especially critical of the West Indies batters, whom he said are making poor shot selections.

“Right now what we have is a bunch of swipers — not batters,” he declared. “They think that hitting sixes is everything, but the rest of the world shows us that hitting sixes is not the only solution to T20 cricket. Batting, and batting properly, makes more sense. Our players have to go back and play four-day cricket so that they can learn to bat, instead of just swiping.”

Sir Andy also questioned whether players have pride in representing the West Indies.

“It comes down to a lot of things — commitment, and the desire to get better than you actually are because if we work hard at whatever we do, we can get better,” he reasoned. “It may come down to a lack of pride, who knows?

When asked how he would solve West Indies cricket’s issues, Sir Andy said that if he was employed at Cricket West Indies he would be ready to stand by brave decisions he would take.

“I would have to have a job where whatever decision I make, I will take the blame for it,” he said. “Nobody must stand in your way to tell you ‘No, you can’t go that way because that way is too harsh.’ Nobody must tell me that I have to be a marathon runner in order to play cricket.”

Sir Andy also questioned the fitness training of the team, suggesting that the players are not being given cricket-specific fitness drills.

“Cricket fitness is different to any other sporting fitness,” he said. “You’re training yourself to be on a field for six hours but today they train themselves to be on a field for two hours. It’s a different type of fitness that is required for cricket — cricket is strength and condition. Even though you’re bowling four overs, because of the anxiety at crease end when you’re bowling you have to be on a field for four or five hours. Your legs suddenly become tired; you’re blowing deep breaths because everything just comes down on you at the same time.

“Also, the fitness training that these guys do is totally different from the fitness training that we used to do. If you go to a West Indies cricket training today, you don’t see much running going on. And what is cricket? A running sport.”

Sir Andy then turned his attention specifically to Jamaican fast bowler Odean Smith.

“I watched Odean Smith — after two balls you could see him [hyperventilating],” Sir Andy said. “He maybe fit to run five miles. He may pass the YoYo test [running aerobic fitness test during which a player is required to ‘shuttle’ between two cones that are placed 20m apart] but is he fit to run in and bowl for an over? It’s a different type of fitness required.”

Sir Andy represented the West Indies in 47 Test matches from 1974 to 1983, and 56 ODI matches from 1975 to 1983.