Pick Up The Ball

In failing to appoint a young captain the WICB and the selectors have lost a chance to invest in the future. As we all know, investing is not the WICB's forte, and so this is perhaps not surprising. Even so, the question remains: who will be captain after Hooper?

Surely not Ridley -- he is a fine man and a great player but he has made his contribution to West Indies cricket and owes it nothing more. Despite the selectors' seeming lack of interest in find his replacement, he cannot continue much longer than Hooper. Neither the mercurial Lara nor the introverted Chanderpaul have any interest in the position. Clearly the next skipper must be one of the new generation.

Having dropped the ball for the Bangladesh tour, the WICB must now look at other means to get a look at the leadership abilities of the various youngsters on offer. Nothing can beat Test match experience, but the next best thing is first class cricket. As it stands most of the member boards of the WICB pick an experienced Test player or ex-Test player to lead their sides in the domestic competitions. Jamaica has Robert Samuels, the Leewards have Williams and Jacobs, the Windwards have Murray, Guyana has Hooper, and
so on.

While this may serve the interest of the national boards in the short term, it does not serve anyone in the long term. The older players are standing in the way of the young ones and this is a dead end. This is not to say that the older players have no role to playe - there is nothing more valuable to a young captain than an experienced advisor.

The WICB must call together its member boards and put it to them to bring forward their offerings for a future West Indies captain. This is not a difficult proposition as every region has at least one credible candidate.

Jamaica can choose from Hinds and Gayle; Barbados has Ryan Hinds; Trinidad has Ganga and Ramnarine; Guyana has Sarwan and Nagamootoo; Leewards have Jeremy and Sanford; and the Windwards have Devon Smith. Any of these players is a potential future West Indies captan and there are probably others I have overlooked. The point is that each region must think long and hard of who they think could make a good captain - while still earning a place in the team on merit - and then invest in that player.

Certainly some of these young men will prove unsuitable for the captaincy job, and this is exactly why they must be given the opportunity sooner rather than later. When the time comes, and believe me it will come soon, the selectors need to be able to make an informed decision to make the transition from Hooper to the next captain a smooth one. The last thing we need in a rebuilding side is a rapid succession of unsuitable captains, which would be damaging both to the team and the individual players.

Once again the ball is in the WICB's end. Let's see if they will pick it up and run with it.

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