The West Indies Cricket Board has now been re-branded to Cricket West Indies. (Source: ICC) The West Indies Cricket Board has now been re-branded to Cricket West Indies. (Source: ICC)

The cricket board for West Indies, on its 91st anniversary, has re-branded themselves as Cricket West Indies from the former West Indies Cricket board. The board also announced in a media release on their official website that the cricket team from now on will be officially known as ‘WINDIES.’

The release also quoted the board’s CEO Johnny Graves as saying that the name Cricket West Indies “better reflects how the organisation operates.” “There are many different stakeholders who we work in partnership with, under the unifying aim of improving cricket at all levels within the region,” said Graves, “We plan to work even more closely with them over the next few years and consultation will begin immediately as we develop a new strategic plan for 2018-2023.”

Cricket West Indies President Dave Cameron said that the name “is more inclusive and appropriate” as the board wants to recognise the “valuable role that our players, territorial boards, staff, supporters, governments, coaches, match officials and volunteers, play in the organisation.”

The name ‘Windies’ has been associated with the cricket teams that have representing the Carribean islands in a more colloquial way. The team, once regarded one of the most feared units in the game, have been on the decline since the past few years. Key players such as Dwayne Bravo, Chris Gayle, Darren Sammy etc have had a long standing differences with the board over remunerations that has forced the team to deal with the absence of these players.

This year, the team also failed to make it to the ICC Champions Trophy and a series of defeats in ODI cricket have led to their automatic qualification for the 2019 ICC World Cup in jeopardy.

📣 The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay updated with the latest headlines

For all the latest Sports News, download Indian Express App.

© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd