Bridgetown: Angry fans have called for changes in the team’s leadership after the West Indies suffered a humiliating loss to England in the third Test here at the Kensington Oval.

Saturday’s defeat also poured an overwhelming sense of melancholy over the region with former WICB president Wes Hall summing up the mood.

“I played for the West Indies so you must know how I feel,” said Hall, a fast bowling great of the 1960s. “To lose like this, and to England, hurts.”

England ended a 36-year drought in the Caribbean by winning 3-0 lead in the four-match series.

“I am gutted,” said Vanburn Holder, a fast bowler of the 1970s who now lives in England, where he is a top-class umpire.

There were other, angrier reactions among many fans.

“Fire (captain) Lara. Fire (coach Gus) Logie. Fire the board,” shouted Ryan Scantlebury, a 34-year-old carpenter.

Chris Wood, a 38-year-old fan and accountant, did not take names but echoed Scantlebury’s call for change.

“Something drastic must be done,” he said. “The West Indies can’t get any worse.”

The beleaguered captain, however, had precious support from an important quarter. Legendary allrounder Gary Sobers said that Lara should not be made a scapegoat for the Caribbean debacle.

“Brian’s contribution has been tremendous. His record in South Africa and Zimbabwe was very good and he came back as the world’s number one batsman,” said Sobers.

“The captaincy didn’t affect his form in South Africa. He shouldn’t be replaced — who is there to replace him anyway? We haven’t reached the standard yet where we can afford to replace him.”

Sobers was speaking after Michael Vaughan’s England team wrapped up the third Test in Barbados by eight wickets inside three days to take a 3-0 lead in the four-match series.

“I think we underestimated England. We returned home after performing so well on tour to South Africa and thought we would do well at home,” sobers told the BBC.

“We hadn’t heard much about England’s bowlers, so we underestimated them. Complacency is the only conclusion I can come to for these results. And when you start off with a defeat like that, it’s very difficult to haul yourself up off the ground. But this West Indies side is a good team, make no mistake about that.

“I think they have a lot of ability. They came back from South Africa after scoring over 300 runs every time they batted — that’s a very good sign of the calibre of the players we have.”

Sobers, who played in that 1968 series which Colin Cowdrey’s England won by 1-0, was impressed by England’s performance.

“This England side is a lot better than many I’ve seen. They’ve gone past the stage of bringing in older players when things go wrong,” he said.

“Now they call up younger players which is what they should have done 15 years ago. They have a good blend of players.

“The bowlers are very useful and stick to their task. England are on the right track and have been for the last four or five years. But they were helped by our poor batting.”