Caribbean Cricket Podcast · Machel St Patrick Hewitt

Time for a change with Carlos Brathwaite

·44 min·2 clips

Carlos says five franchise engagements left him unpaid for three, including one still owed since August last year.

The episode opens with Mashal St. Patrick Hewitt and Santolki back in the room and quickly moving into the wider state of West Indies cricket. The tone stays familiar and loose, with the hosts joking while still sounding frustrated by the same old run of losses. Carlos Brathwaite joins the conversation and the focus settles on what needs to change around the game. A big part of the discussion is the relationship between former players and coaching. The hosts press on why so many legends seem to be brought into the conversation only much later, after their playing days are long behind them. Carlos argues that some past generations did not upskill themselves after retirement in a way that would let them coach, teach, and transfer knowledge day after day. He draws a line between knowing cricket and being able to communicate it. That distinction matters because coaching is not just about what you know, but how you say it and who you are saying it to. The conversation keeps returning to the idea that different personalities need different handling, and a good coach has to know when to push, when to pull, and when to light a fire. The show also spends time on the idea of a mentor inside a team setup. Carlos explains that the role exists because a legend can still be valuable even if he is not formally a coach. The hosts lean into that point and treat it as a practical way to use experience that would otherwise sit outside the setup. There is a specific memory of a Sri Lanka tour where Sir Viv Richards served as mentor, and the conversation uses that example to show what that kind of support can look like. The point is not ceremonial. It is about access, conversation, and the off-field knowledge younger players can actually use. The episode stays focused on West Indies cricket without pretending the problem is simple. The hosts sound like people who have heard every theory before and are still willing to test another one if it comes with enough cricket sense. Carlos brings a reflective tone, but not a soft one. He is willing to say that knowledge and playing pedigree are only part of the job. The rest is the harder work of teaching, adapting, and staying relevant after the spotlight moves on. The conversation also carries a quiet frustration with how often the same names and the same debates return without the system changing around them. That frustration never becomes pure complaint, because the episode keeps asking what would actually help. The answer keeps circling back to education, communication, and a better use of the experience already inside Caribbean cricket. The hosts let the talk breathe, then pull it back when it threatens to drift. That gives the episode a familiar radio looseness without letting it dissolve. By the end, the case for change is less slogan than inventory: use the legends better, train them better, and stop treating history like decoration. The episode does not pretend to solve West Indies cricket. It does something more honest, which is to show how many of the problems live in the handoff between one generation and the next. The result is a conversation with plenty of edge, some useful memory, and enough cricket detail to keep the argument grounded.

As heard by us

A blunt, thoughtful cricket conversation about what West Indies change requires.

Caribbean Cricket Podcast takes on West Indies cricket's recent run of Ls and the harder question of how a team starts over, with Carlos Brathwaite adding the sort of perspective that only comes from being inside the game.

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Why you'd press play

If you want straight talk about West Indies cricket and Carlos Brathwaite, start here.

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