Former West Indies cricketer Brian Lara, on Tuesday, took a veiled swipe at the Indian Premier League (IPL) and other T-20 franchise leagues, blaming the tournament for the dismal bating performance of West Indies 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 was just one run more than New Zealands 26 all out against England in 1955.

In the wake of the horrendous batting display, Lara, speaking on the cricket podcast ‘Stick To Cricket’, indirectly blamed the IPL and other T20 franchise leagues for the decline of West Indies cricket.

He claimed that players tend to use the national team as a stage to garner attention from T-20 leagues, as opposed to the culture back in his days, when cricketers used to rise through the ranks by playing domestic cricket and county cricket before earning an international debut.

Meanwhile, former England cricketer David Lyod has blamed the top three cricket-playing countries, India, Australia, and England.

Lyod said, “The big three, they take all the money. They get the big broadcast deals. You need to have a more even distribution to allow West Indies, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka to participate in the deal.”

Former West Indies captain Carl Hooper, speaking on ABC Cricket,

Hooper said he thinks a few heads should roll for these decisions. “They have made some wholesale changes, massive changes, that I think were not 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.”