Logie: W.I Selectors Disrespected Me
Wed, Sep 29, '04
(Trinidad Guardian)
On the verge of his exit as coach of the West Indies cricket team, Gus Logie yesterday said some of the selectors did not speak to him during his tenure as coach.
Logie said he felt strongly about being a selector since he had to accept most of the blame when the team failed. ?But I was denied that and given the role of being adviser to the selectors, with no vote. Some of the selectors did not even speak to me,? he said.
He described that as total disrespect and explained that some of the selectors may have been personalities who were too big because of their former prowess on the field.
Logie, who became coach of the team after Australian Bennett King failed to accept the post in 2001, said he also felt disrespected by members of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) who never gave him the kind of support he wanted.
?I am disappointed. I made a contribution and have been denied the opportunity to continue what has just begun to blossom. A foreign coach will come into this area and will be given the limited resources and authority I never had to get the job done and this just when results were being seen,? he said.
?I have made a contribution throughout my life to West Indies cricket and it is time I move on,? he said.
He is not certain in what direction he will go but needs time to assess the situation, spend some time with his two sons, Giovan and Aaron and his wife before deciding the direction of his future.
Logie returned home to Sobo Village to meet a celebratory dinner with his family, to a table laid by his two sons and a ?Welcome Banner? made by the boys, who were allowed to remain up for the occasion.
Logie, who described the West Indies victory in the ICC Champions Trophy on the weekend as a superb team effort, said he is disappointed that his stint has ended at the time and in the circumstances it did.
?Many people were looking for excuses for the team?s performances for some time. I was disappointed by some of those who talk about things they had no information about,? he said.
?The insistence of seeking a foreign coach does nothing more than promote inferiority complex among our people,? he said.
After a career with the successful West Indies teams of the 1980?s, Logie studied and trained in Australia before becoming the coach of the West Indies Under-15 team which won the World Cup.
Wes Hall, then president of WICB, encouraged him to apply to be the assistant to Bennett King then offered the post as coach to the West Indies senior team. King did not take up the post and Logie got the position of coach, ironically without an assistant.
Logie said one of his duties was to instil in his players a sense of personal responsibility for their actions.
?They have a responsibility to themselves to be the best they can be, to the team, not to let their teammates down and to the supporters everywhere, and especially in the West Indies, to always play to the best of their ability.
?For that to be implemented, there must be collaboration between players, coach and selectors.?
Logie said he was pleased to be leaving when the West Indies had a major achievement.
?Whoever comes in now will have a confident group to work with. I hope the pendulum has swung in such a way that it will continue to be upwards for us.?
EDITOR'S NOTE: According to minutes of the WICB's cricket committee, Logie was the one who asked out of team selection duties.
Excepted from the minutes: "Sir Vivian Richards expressed concerns about the selection process on tour, noting that West Indies Team Coach, Mr. Gus Logie had indicated that he did not wish to be part of the selection process. The meeting was of the view that being a member of the Tour Selection Committee was part of the duties and responsibilities of the Coach of the West Indies Cricket Team and that as such it was mandatory for Mr. Logie to take part in the selection process.
In March this year, Logie told a press conference in Barbados that he did not want to be a selector because it created distrust with players.
Logie said at the time: "When I became interim coach last year and spoke with the players, I recognised they have always mistrusted selectors...As a new coach coming into the squad, I felt I needed the trust of the players and I found it difficult being a coach and a selector at the same time. I sacrificed the selectorial side of the post to focus on being coach of the team."
