Is it the dawn of a new day?

It might be that things had to have happened the way they have to convince West Indian cricket fans and organisers of cricket that we are in deep trouble. Before the start of the Super 8 there were still many persons around who expected our team to be among the finalists. Our defeats have often been interpreted as mere lapses with the expectation that we will rebound. It is not hard to imagine why some persons would have adopted that kind of attitude because the West Indies Cricket team is a strange animal or rather they are strange animals. Sometimes against all odds they rise to the occasion and shut the mouths of the doubting Thomases. But clearly any careful look at the performances of the West Indian team in recent times should have convinced anyone that something was fundamentally wrong.{{more}} Our performance in the Super 8 was a tragic spectacle. The body language, the spirit or lack of, demonstrated that all was not well. They were just going through the motions

The departure of Lara does not of itself mean the dawn of a new day for the problems go beyond Lara. Brilliant batsman as he was his captaincy was terrible. Something was obviously out of sync here for clearly Lara is knowledgeable about the game but as a tactician he was hopeless. He lacked the ability to inspire the team. He said the right things at the end of the games but then they went back to square one. There are many stories about Brian Lara as Captain, many of them one has difficulty believing. I have often felt that the real culprit with all of this was the management of West Indian cricket that made Lara believe that he was bigger than the team, in fact bigger than the game.

We are now hearing that it can no longer be business as usual and that a new chapter will begin almost immediately. The selection of the team and the new captain is to reflect the new direction. Bruce Aanenson, CEO of the WICB said recently “We had agreed and discussed at an executive meeting some time ago that West Indies cricket at this point in time cannot be business as usual and the incremental changes that we have tried to make over time that have not worked and do not seem as if they will work, cannot be the way forward and that some hard decisions may have to be made in terms of how we do business going forward.”.

Actually I had delayed writing this article waiting to hear some more about this new direction and what was going to constitute the dawn of this new day. You know we have heard all of this before. When our team was sinking to defeat we were told that we must expect this because they were in a rebuilding phase. Over the years there had been a series of developmental plans. Caribbean people had been canvassed about the rebuilding process. But little seemed to have happened! Bennett King was also another bogey man; this Australian who didn’t seem to know and understand West Indian Culture was one of the explanations given for the state of our cricket.

I am not sure that King is a factor in the abysmal failures of the West Indian team, a team that at least in this World Cup appeared physically unfit and certainly lacked mental toughness. Is it that the team is a reflection of the state of West Indian society, the intrigues, the personality conflicts, the lack of direction? If one is to use that argument the logical conclusion is that there is no hope because we see nothing inspirational in West Indian society and politics today. This can however not be easily dismissed. As one fan said, in the past our cricketers played with passion and purpose. This might have had to do with (As Toney Cozier so often says) our movement into independence and the spirit that it generated. The period of the ‘70s and early ‘80s was also an invigorating period that motivated the players. Today the materialistic thrust is playing itself out in cricket, just look at the continuing problems between the West Indies Players Association and the Board.

We all come up with issues and factors that can explain the state of West Indian cricket today, but what in the first place has led us down this path? Why despite rhetoric to the contrary West Indian cricketers fail to appreciate the significance of cricket to the region and the high expectations the regional public had regarding their performance in the World Cup. They certainly lacked that appreciation because their body language told us so. I have seen letters and appeals being passed around on the ‘net’ appealing for Lara to be given a chance to go to England. Among other things said is that he would become the first player to score 12,000 runs in Test Cricket. But this is precisely the nonsense that we have had to put up with. Although I feel that the problems in West Indies Cricket go beyond Lara I am of the view that if there really is to be a new day then Lara cannot be a part of it. So why should Lara’s ability to reach 12,000 runs be a serious consideration. The issue is what is best for the future of West Indian cricket. This should be our major consideration. On this issue I feel that Daren Ganga should be given the Captaincy. I am no fan of Ganga. He has difficulty making the team but what is needed at this moment is a motivator and an individual who could build team spirit and command the respect of the players. As a tactician Sarwan might have the edge, I am not sure, but I am of the view that Sarwan will not be able to deliver what is needed at this time. Would the appointment of Ganga over Sarwan create problems within the team, is a question that must be asked.

If we are serious about the dawn of a new day we will have to do some serious weeding out of the team and invest in young and new players. We are already at the bottom in world cricket and really can go no lower. But we have to build now. Our bowling department is hopelessly embarrassing. We have a lot of work to do in this area and have to find new persons with potential that you can build on. This is obviously an area of emphasis but the restructuring must not only involve the team. It has to involve those who manage Cricket. Who are going to make these decisions? Do we expect the West Indies Cricket Board to radically transform itself and its operations or even vote itself out of office? Who is really in charge of West Indies Cricket and to whom are they accountable?

Thinking of the challenges and of the enormity of the problem is enough to blow one’s mind. True it can no longer be business as usual, or better said, it should no longer be business as usual. West Indian society is a talk society. We talk and make grand statements at CARICOM and else where but that is as far as we go. There is a big gap between rhetoric and implementation. The West Indies Cricket Board is no different. Has the cricketing public become incensed enough to hold them to the task? What power do we ultimately have? Above all else, keep the politicians away!