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.”

In reply to CaribbeanCricket.com

I am in total agreement with Croft .
The problem I believe is that those endowed with Super Egos , delight in exhibiting the fact that they are steeped in 19th century thinking .

A bygone era where there were only Masters & Servants , and each knew their station in life . It is in my opinion this archaic thinking why
the WICBC is lurching from Crisis to
Crisis .

Its Members are simply unable to bring themselves to treat its Employees as Partners , with a common
goal , which is to make our Players &
Team the Best Cricket Team in the World .

In reply to POINT

Do you think they should simply allow the captain and coach to select the team and do away with all the other selectors?

In reply to spider

My take is that the job of the Selectors is to select Players , then arrange a couple of matches between 22
of the best Players , and then Select
the final Tour Squad .

In my opinion , ALL persons should defer to the Head Coach selections .
It is his Head that is on the Block when things go wrong .

In essence it aint the Selectors job is going to be reviewed , based on the Performances of the Players ; it is the Head Coach ; therefore in my opinion the Head Coach must have the last say regarding Selections .

What happens if Players who are selected , and the Head Coach was not impressed with them , they then perhaps have a bad tour ; and the Team also has a bad Tour . It is the Head Coach who is going to unfairly bear the brunt of Criticism .

The gist is that it is his job that is on the line , not the Selectors , nor the Players , they can dropped ,
but as I have stated it is the Head Coach whose job is on the Line .

In reply to POINT

Ok

In reply to CaribbeanCricket.com

A coach selecting his team in a region where people bias to their country folk?! In other pro sports and countries this hardly if ever is a problem. Windies is a unique beast not unlike the Philippines or Hawaii in structure but those places are under one government and consider themselves so. Even if they mouth the unity words some players so nationalistic that they rebel in silence among other things. That culture is why a panel is needed more than with any other cricket nation.
Heck I keep hearing about local club bias that may be keeping better talent from being exposed so imagine. Fidel anyone???

In reply to Drapsey
The final eleven should definitely have a captains touch. The cappo should at least have a 2 pick say in that 11. The latest cappo to not get that say was Clarke and he walked. According to reports he had some say in the final 11 process up till then. The coach should also have his picks in the final 11 and as we can se does have series team sekection input

In reply to Drapsey

His fault if/when we fail. So YES!

In reply to Scar
A panel is only practical when they have a set criteria for selection and are by law forced to follow it, not as what they feel. A coach can go by feel as his decisions have a direct impact on his employment. Selectors are protected by the fact that the coach and the captain are the one's in the firing line not them. In fact, the West Indies system makes no sense. The Board should set Policy Direction. Management to set systems to achieve policy and manage them. The Coach should be responsible for team strategy and the captain tactical implementation. The selectors role really should be that of player identification to meet criteria based on strategy and within published policy or player rating based on it. Coaches must be able to select but only from that list. An example would be the world rating of players as best in different categories-Bowling, all-rounder, batting etc. There is no problem with an adjustment in suitability based on objective criteria being set. Further to this, it must be a public rating system. The biggest problem most have is the secretive nature of selection. If you select a player lower in the system than another it must be explained and justified. Further to this, the coach should have at least three wild card selections as the Americans put it.
Selectors role should end with the development of the list of eligible players and their relative rating they should have no role within the team structure as that undermines the team. An example would be that strategy and tactical implementation mean using a particular player but regional balance means using another or team unity means leaving out another player but selection criteria means leaving them in, who holds sway? Having selectors who have no stake in the team not only waters down selection but undermines effectiveness.

In reply to slaton

First thing that needs to be determined is if West Imdies selection structure and policy is any different than that of any other test playing nation

In reply to imusicHa mi bro' theres the rub! OZ was different the cappo had some say, Clarke was the last to have input which was always honored until this England tour. The Pommie skipper has more than just slight input when you listen to the Pommie coms. The new Pommie coach seems to have a lot of control over who is selected which they have been bragging about. I do think in the Glory days the cappos Lloyd and Viv chose players along with selectors but after Viv the WICB vowed to never give a cappo such power again. The net result is as we can see but one can also ask if any of todays captains warrant such 'allowance' since they were not as good players. In fact it seems that way because Lara got that 'allowance' to choose some players