BRISBANE, NOV 27: West Indies cricket officials say the team's continued poor play could see sponsors abandon the side.``We don't have any hammer hanging over our heads in the short term, but if the team was to continue this margin of loss without showing growth, it could have some impact on our sponsorship,'' team manager Ricky Skerritt said on Monday.``Most of the money goes to the players, so the players stand to lose as much as anybody else.''The team was beaten by an innings and 126 runs inside three days in the first Test in Brisbane by Australia who are chasing a record 12th consecutive Test victory when the second Test begins Friday in Perth.The West Indies are still drawing crowds, with almost 50,000 at the Gabba over the three days in Brisbane. Four days before the Perth test, WACA officials say almost 80 per cent of corporate boxes are sold out, with a crowd of between 16,000 and 20,000 expected on the first day.Skerritt said the West Indies can't keep riding the wave of popularity of stars like Brian Lara and Courtney Walsh without sponsors asking questions.``We haven't had any approaches, but the reality is this team has to do better than it's doing,'' Skerritt said.``It's been strange that even with our losses we have continued to ride the wave of the legacy of West Indies cricket and the fact that we have Brian Lara and Courtney Walsh in the team continues to have a certain aura to it.``However, we have to show that West Indies cricket is on recovery path and if not sponsors are going to ask questions.''
