'Hiring Logie was Illogical, Stupid'

Tue, Dec 10, '02

Just two months from the start of the World Cup, its biggest challenge in 24 years, Canada's cricket team is wondering who's in charge. Jeff Thomas, the Australian who has the led the team to some impressive results in recent months, said Monday he was no longer coach.

"I think. I'm not really sure," he added. He declined further comment. The Canadian Cricket Association also offered little when asked about reports former West Indies batsman Gus Logie was taking over the team.

"At the moment we're not making any comments at all," said association president Geoff Edwards. "We will probably be putting out a media release in a day or two."

Asked if Thomas was still coach, Edwards reiterated: "We're not making any comment."

Logie, however, was talking in an interview with the Trinidad Express newspaper. Logie said he agreed to take the Canadian job after the Canadian Cricket Association approached the West Indies Cricket Board about him.

"It's a challenge like everything else," Logie said. "It's an opportunity for me as well to see how much input I can make into the development of Canada's cricket."

Logie, former captain of Trinidad and Tobago, has been in various coaching roles with the West Indies board since 1995.

Canadian captain Joe Harris said the team was dumbfounded. "We're shocked at the decision," he said Monday. "Right now we're basically waiting for direction from the CCA. We don't know what to do."

Thomas has been a popular coach. "As far as I know, every player on the squad has only said positive things about him. I've not heard anything else," Harris said.

Ed Bracht, former chairman of the Canadian Cricket Association, called the decision to remove Thomas "the most irresponsible, illogical and stupid decision the CCA has ever made."

Bracht is helping lead a movement to keep Thomas as coach.

Reports say Logie is set to join the Canadian team on Jan. 10. The World Cup opens Feb. 8 in South Africa, with Canada's first game three days later against Bangladesh.

"At this stage I'm sort of lost at to what's going to happen between now and the 10th of February," Harris said.

Thomas spent several summers at the Toronto Cricket Club as its resident cricket coach. He coached Canada in 1999 and returned last year on contract to take over the national team and help with the under-19 side.

Canada qualified for the World Cup in July 2001 by defeating Scotland to finish third in the ICC Trophy competition.

While the Canadian team has been hampered by lack of money, it has done well under Thomas in the few tournaments it could afford to attend. At the recent Red Stripe tournament, Canada won two games for the first time ever, finishing at 2-3. Prior to that, the Canadians upset West Indies A in August.

"We've done well," said Harris. "We've got good team spirit, we've got a really good squad going, the fellows really enjoy each other's company. We've really jelled as a team and the coach has done a great job bringing us together."

Together, Thomas and the team have survived a hurricane in the Caribbean and the heat of humidity of Sri Lanka.

"We've been through some tours with him," said Davis. "Good times and bad times. So far this year it's just been good times."

As one of the minnows in the tournament, Canada faces a daunting task at the World Cup where it is in a preliminary group with Bangladesh, Kenya, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the West Indies.

Canada's players are amateurs and the Canadian cricket cupboard is essentially bare, with no sponsorship money. Canada has prepared for the World Cup on a shoestring, thanks only to a handout from the world governing body of sport.

* SOURCE: The Canadian Press.