Tym Glaser
EARTH TO the Caribbean, earth to the Caribbean: the glory days of cricket you are so keen to recapture are not hiding behind a mythical corner your West Indian side is just about to turn.
Sorry, this may sound extremely harsh, but Richie Richardson's appraisal that the 'Losedies' may be 10 years away from being good again was probably overly optimistic.
Ten years hence from now, they will be doing well to be a little better than average.
As for being a world power again not in your lifetime or possibly your children's children's lifetimes. As I said, sorry, but that's the way it is.
Simply put, the Caribbean does not have the money, pool of talent or infrastructure to challenge the top guns of the game and those things don't just fall in your lap.
Yes, the West Indies were kings for about 15 years from the early '80s through to the mid-'90s but, as I wrote many moons ago now, that was just due to a freakish convergence of talent - the likes of which comes about once a century. The rest of the time you have to harness the resources you have, take your licks and simply fight on through.
The Windies have scarce resources to call upon, and when 'em, battles between the WI board, territorial bodies and players ensue.
On the evidence of six days of pathetic cricket played against Australia so far in this three-Test series Down Under, there is also no heart for the battle.
MOB OF RABBLE
As far as I know, English is the predominant language in Australia and the cricket-playing Caribbean but it appears Aussie coach Bennett King must be speaking Swahili because this mob of rabble masquerading as West Indian cricketers continues to make the same mistakes and, if at all possible, seems to be getting worse.
Either that, or King simply doesn't know how to coach - but that would seem a little doubtful as he was a head honcho at the Australian Cricket Academy and those that passed through the ranks there swear by him.
All off-field issues aside (and Lord knows there are plenty of them), maybe it's simply that these players are either not as talented as they are hyped up to believe, are too set in their ways to accept change (ie., dumb) or just don't care as long as they get a nice little pay cheque at the end of the day.
Yeah, the bowling is inexperienced and that can be used as a part excuse, but that doesn't hold water with the batting line-up which, on paper, looks as good as any in the world. Heck, maybe the Windies should play papier mache Tests instead of real ones and save their fans a whole world of grief.
Who wants to see "in real life" Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan continually getting caught behind the wicket Test after Test or Marlon Samuels playing like Bradman in warm-up games and then Mrs Bradman in the Tests; or Brian Charles Lara bobbing, weaving and shuffling around the crease against bowlers he would have creamed a few summers ago?
Then, of course, there's Shivnarine Chanderpaul the captain waiting to be sacked.
Shiv's been a great company man and toed the WICB's line during the player revolt but he's not a leader of men. There's a lot more to cricket captaincy than setting fields and changing bowlers. The captain is the man that must have respect in the lockerroom and not be afraid to wield the big stick when required.
His pro-company stance during the sponsorship debates must have alienated some of his protesting teammates and can you honestly envisage Shiv giving Lara or Gayle or Sarwan an earful over anything?
SORRY FOR SHIV
I feel a little sorry for him because he's had to carry the burden during the side's apparent nadir and it's starting to affect his form at the crease too, but if he wants to keep the job he's got to show more. How about batting at three in the Tests and opening in the one-dayers instead of hiding down in the middle order for starters?
It might not save his captaincy but it would show some mettle to his teammates.
As it is though, with a record of a win, two draws and six (almost seven) losses as the skipper, he's pretty much done and is basically Dead Captain Walking.
Who takes over? Not Lara ... been there done that and then went there and did that again. Plus, at 36 he would be a short-term solution. Sarwan and Wavell Hinds would be the two most likely candidates.
But it really doesn't matter who takes over at the top because it's not going to stop the rot.
