‘WI cricket captains must approve who goes into battle with him’

Mon, Oct 5, '15

by COLIN CROFT

Captains of industry and sports must lead with great energy, guile and foresight, requisitioning useful instruments while planning results, also surrounding themselves with personnel who should positively effect that hoped-for successful future! Simple, really!

Why then, in present West Indies cricket, are none of our teams’ captains allowed votes in selecting players that they will lead, as was present in the past, while coaches do have that luxury?

Surely captains must, by gut feelings or evidence, as illustrated for WI’s Fidel Edwards or Pakistan’s Shoaib Aktar; captains’ picks by Brian Lara and Wasim Akram respectively; know whom they want in their teams.

To quote Pope Francis: “Power is a fleeting thing; here today, gone tomorrow. It is important to do ‘good’ with that power; to serve in the humblest of ways!”

The great irony here is that present chief WI selector Clive Lloyd, while leading an acclaimed cricket team, thankfully including yours truly, demanded that vote: “I am given this task of leading WI teams. Therefore I must have my vote as to whom I trust to be out there with me. Ultimately, I am responsible for producing good performances from those players on the field.”