Brian Lara’s veiled IPL swipe after West Indies’ 27 all out; David Lloyd blames India: ‘They take all the money’

Brian Lara blamed the IPL and T20 leagues for West Indies’ 27 all out, saying players now use the national team to attract franchise deals, not earn caps

Former West Indies cricketer Brian Lara, on Tuesday, took a veiled swipe at the Indian Premier League (IPL), blaming the tournament for West Indies' horror batting show in the third Test match against Australia, where the home team was dismissed for just 27 runs - the second-lowest total in a Test innings in history.

Brian Lara, David Llyod had their say on West Indies' 27 all out

In what was a maiden Pink Ball Test held at Sabina Park, Mitchell Starc registered a record six-wicket haul, while Scott Boland picked up a hat-trick as West Indies collapsed within 87 balls in the final match of the Frank Worrell Trophy series. Australia won by 176 runs in Kingston to complete a whitewash.

In the wake of the horrendous batting display, Lara, speaking on cricket podcast 'Stick To Cricket', indirectly blamed IPL and other T20 franchise leagues for the decline of cricket in the West Indies. He claimed that players tend to use the national team as a stage to garner attention from T20 leagues, as opposed to the culture back in his days, when cricketers used to rise through the ranks by playing domestic cricket, before earning an international debut.

"We played first-class cricket and some of us even played county cricket to try to get into the West Indies team," Lara said. "We are now using the Western East team as a stepping stone, as a stage for us to get, you know, contracts around. And that is not a fault of the player."

Former England cricketer David Llyod, who also participated in the podcast, blamed India, along with Australia and England, for the downfall of West Indies cricket.

"The big three, they take all the money. England, Australia, India take off the money. They get the big broadcast deals. You've got to have a more even distribution to allow West Indies, New Zealand, Sri Lanka to complete," said Llyod.

Former West Indies captain Carl Hooper, speaking on ABC Cricket, called for a change in the current set-up after the 0-3 Test series loss against Australia.

"Cricket West Indies, I really think a few heads should roll for this because they've made some decisions and this is the result of those decisions," Hooper said. "They've made some wholesale changes, massive changes, that I think wasn't needed. … To make wholesale changes and then get results like this, Cricket West Indies have got to hold up their hands and be held accountable."