Another Missed WICB Opportunity
Tue, Oct 26, '04
Guyana, the site of the preliminary round of this year's unsponsored West Indies one-day tournament, epitomizes the complacency and inertia that ails cricket in the region.
The tournament bowled off in a country where most of the traffic lights are broken and traffic laws are largely non-existent. Where, on the 26-mile ride to the airport, no less than seventeen bridges are in various stages of repair, making traversing the East Bank public road during rush hour a marathon exercise in patience.
Mark Twain once said, "I admire the serene assurance of those who have religious faith. It is wonderful to observe the calm confidence of a Christian with four aces." This is the typical demeanor of a Guyanese minibus driver and any member of the WICB that you may happen to run into.
The WICB continues blithely on its merry non-accountable ways. From failing to secure a sponsor for the tournament to failing to secure the services of a coach, foreign or otherwise, in time to have him present at this tournament where all the cricketers were gathered for a tournament.
Veteran commentator Joseph 'Reds' Perreira was among those shaking his head at the inability of the WICB to hire the head coach in time for the tournament. "It's a great pity that the new coach is not on the job already and not in Guyana viewing the one day competition. A lot of interviews were done, and they were done, to me, early enough. Conditions were spelt out, the job description was spelt out for those interviewed, and I would have thought that it would have been a great opportunity for the new coach to start by seeing all the players in this competition."
"Apart from the top fifteen or so players used over the last couple of years, the coach would have seen some of the younger players in action, players that maybe he would have seen no information on. This would have been a very useful exercise, not only completing the One Day competition which the board is committed to doing, but also using it to really allow the coach to have a very good grasp of what the talent is all about outside of the known players," Perreira added.
"When you look at whether this opportunity will again avail itself to the board it?s difficult to see this happening for a very long time."
'Reds' recognized that while there could still be an opportunity for the new coach to see the finals and semi-finals in Barbados, he would only be seeing four of the six teams on show. In addition, he would have seen all the teams playing each other on a rotating basis.
"A missed opportunity," he said matter-of-factly.
With less than two months left before West Indies jet off to Australia for the tri-nation ODI series there and after winning the ICC Champions Trophy at the end of the summer, the WICB should have been eager to put things in place to build on that success. Instead, like that celebrated Christian, the board has acted with little urgency in ensuring that any coach who comes on board would have enough time to assess and work with the players.
Maybe they were ultra cautious given the Bennett King fiasco that occurred when they were last looking for a coach, yet we hear the same Bennett King name being floated as a possible candidate. This is the same man who embarrassed the board by withdrawing shortly after being announced as the new coach, thus necessitating the elevation of the unfortunate Gus Logie to the head coaching position.
One thing is certain, the next few weeks in West Indies cricket will be interesting and filled with drama. Something that is as certain as failure to secure sponsorship for the One Day tournament did not result in someone?s firing.
It seems like the WICB is chock full of contented Christians.
