Time To Blood the Next Skipper
Mon, Nov 18, '02
With Carl Hooper's announcement of temporary abdication comes
the question of who will replace him as captain for the Bangladesh
tour. At first glance, it seems an easy choice to pick Ridley
Jacobs who recently filled in during the doomed 4th ODI in Rajkot.
But wait - there's a golden opportunity here to give some
experience to a young player who could one day assume the mantle of
West Indies captain.
In case no one has noticed, Carl Hooper will be 36 on December 15
and it's high time we figured out who his successor is. There can
be no doubt that the stylish all-rounder will carry the side
through the World Cup, but he is getting long in the tooth and
there is no indication of where we will find the next West Indies
captain when Hoops decides to hang up his boots.
When Hooper took over from the failing Jimmy Adams, it was not
without controversy. Michael Holding took it so personally, he
chose to absent himself from the commentary box for Hooper's first
series as West Indies captain. I am of the school of thought that
says that you pick your team, and then pick your captain from that
team. No passenger captains for me.
Still, given the willing choices and the case "King Carl" made for
himself with a few pounds of good willow, one cannot feel that it
was the worst of choices. Clearly Hooper is no Clive Lloyd or Mike
Brearly but he takes his place in the side on merit plain and
simple. His detractors point to his unimpressive career average of
36.46 but I will point them to the more important figure of 45.97
which is his batting average since he took over as captain. Since
he took over, Carl Llewellyn has not disappointed with the bat and
that is far more important than what he did in all the years before
that. Still, every dog has his day and Hooper's day is rapidly
drawing to a close.
I have to say, I like a lot of these new young batsmen who are
currently establishing themselves. Not to say that I wouldn't like
a bit more production from them, but I like them. They range from
swashbuckling to stylish, in the mould of West Indian batsmen
before them. All they lack, in my opinion, is the ethic of a
previous generation who had to fight hard to earn a place in the
senior side. I pray that will come.
The bowlers are a different story. With the exception of Mervyn
Dillon -- who could have been a fine change bowler had the mantle
of senior pacer not been thrust upon him -- none of the current
crop of bowlers inspires me all that much. I will admit to looking
forward to more of Lawson and Powell. Those two have the makings of
a hunting pair, but it's way too early to tell.
In any case, given a timeframe that could be as short as a few
months, someone had better look at getting the next generation some
leadership experience. I think it is the national boards that need
to take the first steps in this regard, and put forward their
candidates for the next West Indies captain.
Trinidad under Ian Bishop (ah, Ian, what a fine captain you would
have made!) has already taken this step with Daren Ganga. While it
seems that Ganga has lost his place in the side for the moment, he
is young and has the potential to make it back into the side in
plenty of time to be a realistic option for the captaincy at some
point. Whether or not you agree with the choice of player, the
principle is sound and the other boards need to follow suit. There
is little point at this stage in putting forward candidates that
are past their prime or who have no chance of restarting their Test
careers.
Back to the present. In little more than a week we are due to begin
playing playing three one-day matches and two Tests against
arguably the weakest side in Test cricket. This is an
opportunity that must not be squandered to see how Ramnaresh
Sarwan, Wavell Hinds or Chris Gayle look in the role as skipper.
I name these three because of all the young players in the region
they are most the most likely to be able to hold a regular place in
a post-Hooper West Indies team. It really does not matter which one
is chosen, or even if one is given the ODI side and another the
Tests, because the point of this exercise is to see what we might
have available. If I had to choose I might pick Wavell Hinds, not
for any reason other than he will most likely get the Jamaican
captaincy after Robert Samuels.
That said, any or all of these three would be the right choice for
interim captain. This would show a firm committment to the future
on the part of the WICB and a willingness to reward merit with
opportunity. The message would be loud and clear and it is under
these circumstances that men rise
to the challenge. And there can be no better opportunity for these
young men to show themselves worthy of future consideration than
this one right now.