adminCape Town — Respected cricket commentator Mark Nicholas has apologised to Darren Sammy and the West Indies following their remarkable ICC World Twenty20 triumph over England on Sunday. Nicholas, who writes a column for ESPNcricinfo, had made a pre-tournament suggestion that the West Indies were “short of brains” going into the competition.
Sammy made reference to Nicholas’ column in his post-match press conference on Sunday in which he also slammed the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) over issues surrounding the side’s preparation for the tournament.
“How could you describe people with no brains? Even animals have brains,” Sammy said in Kolkata.
“We’re not an object, and for me, that comment really set us off. You’ve seen me talking about it. It’s really emotional, for somebody who I respect and have a good rapport with generally, to describe our team — who two years ago were world champions — as guys with no brains. That’s really out of order.”
Nicholas wrote another column yesterday morning in which he apologised to Sammy and the West Indies for what he called a “throwaway” comment.
“I would have made the same apology whatever the results of the day, but I do so now in the knowledge that the people of the Caribbean will have celebrated long into the night and well into today,” Nicholas wrote.
“Clearly, the West Indies team isn’t “short of brains”. I wrote this in a piece that was mainly about India and MS Dhoni and, partly tongue in cheek, exaggerated a likely “triumph” — as in the ancient history of the Roman Empire. In picking a winner, I could see no further than the hosts.
“I regret it and apologise for it.”— Sport24.
derick.khumalo