Holding: 'I'd Make Sarwan Captain'

Tue, Mar 30, '04

Outspoken television broadcaster Michael Holding believes the WICB should pull the plug on Brian Lara's captaincy and turn the reins of the team over to Ramnaresh Sarwan.

Holding, a fast bowling legend from Jamaica, said the partnership of Lara and head coach Gus Logie "has not worked" and suggested Lara be the one to step down. "I'd keep Logie as coach and make Ramnaresh Sarwan captain. He's going through a bad patch at the moment and he's only 23 but he's been playing since he was 17 and he has a maturity on his shoulders."

"The problem is the captain and coach don't get on and never have. When Gus Logie was Trinidad captain, Lara kept undermining him. The West Indian captain and coach can't sit down and discuss the way forward," Holding said during a discussion with Michael Atherton, Graham Thorpe and Scyld Berry that appeared in the Daily Telegraph newspaper in England.

"I do not believe this West Indies cricket team are performing anywhere near their potential. I think what is happening off the field is being reflected on the field. I don't think they are being properly managed or led," Holding declared.

"England look a lot more professional. They don't leave anything to chance, they appear well-planned and well-organised, and that is the major difference when you look at the England and West Indian teams on the field."

Holding called on the team manager to "get the family spirit going" to help turn around the fortunes of the regional team. "If we get the right people in place, we can start the turn-around. We're not going to get back in the top two countries straight away but we can turn it around."

On the batting debacle in Jamaica when the West Indies crumbled for 47, Holding said: "No team should get bowled out for 47 on that pitch even if you had five Dennis Lillees bowling. The same team who were set 419 by Australia and got them - they couldn't have lost that talent already. Steve Harmison bowled well, I take nothing away from him. But seven for 12? Nah, nah."

On the use of four fast bowlers in the final eleven: "If West Indies have four bowlers like Edwards and Best, you might make 300, yes, but you're not going to make 350, because those guys have pace. But you have to pick your four best bowlers whatever they are - if you have a spinner good enough, he has to play. The days of just picking any four fast bowlers are gone."

On the use of Kookaburra balls in the series, Holding did not mince words: "As far as I'm concerned we should never use the Kookaburra. I think it came in when Roger Harper was coach and they said when they went overseas they had to use a Kookaburra, so they wanted to get accustomed to them here in the Caribbean - which is lop-sided thinking as far as I'm concerned. A Kookaburra lasts 25-30 overs and then it gets softer than other balls. The material that makes the seam doesn't last on these hard pitches."

On performance-related contracts for West Indies cricketers, Holding said: "Performance-related pay won't work if you don't have a happy team. Some of the players are putting up with a lot of rubbish because they know they'll be well paid - I think it's about $5,000 (?2,750) a Test. We tried central contracts once but there wasn't enough money. But you have to first deal with the problem that's making them unhappy. I know of players who have told me they don't want to be in the team because there isn't the right atmosphere to make them feel wanted and appreciated."

On indiscipline in the side: "I'd never tell you the West Indian teams of the past were a great family. But we had personality clashes, not people stabbing each other in the back, and when we got on the field we put it all aside."