This One's On Hoops

To tweak a famous phrase: If soft dismissals at crucial times were punishable by law, Carl Hooper would be doing hard time.

The West Indies' captain's maddening habit of gifting his wicket when the circumstances call for hardcore consolidation proved the turning point of today's disappointing 20-run loss to New Zealand. And, to hear Hooper's post-mortem that a missed catch at the death was a key reason for the loss is to understand how far the skipper has his head buried in the sand.

In the post-game interview, Hooper casually hinted the match turned when Marlon Samuels put down a catch off Gayle. Wrong. This one's on you, Hoops. And not only for that suicidal shot you played after Lara's run-out.

It's impossible to figure out where to start with an honest analysis of this match. Staring at a cakewalk to the Super Six stage, the West Indies spit the bit. From Nixon McLean's waywardness to Chris Gayle's wildness. From Brian Lara's poor running judgment to Marlon Samuels' drop, the West Indies plain and simply choked.

But, twist it and turn it, it all starts and ends with Carl Hooper. How can one man be so blessed with batting genius and yet be so cursed with braincramp? Anyone remember the shot Hooper played at Queen's Park Oval when we were chasing against India? Does anyone remember his comments afterwards that, somehow, Chanderpaul could have and should have done better?

It's deja vu all over again with King Carl. With the score on 46 and Lara, Gayle and Hinds already gone, this was Hooper's stage to produce a masterpiece. Instead, the predictable happened. A man was put on the backward-square fence and Hooper was encouraged to hook. And hook he did.

"[In the same situation] I'll play the same [hook] shot," he had said after falling for the trap in the run-chase against India last. And he meant it.

This time, Shane Bond yawned a few times and pouched the sitter. The skipper had thrown his hand away and turned the battle over to Ronnie Sarwan, the 23-year-old man/child who is earning his World Cup keep.

When Hooper trudged back to the pavilion after that gaffe, you got the sense he doesn't know any better. It's not like he doesn't care, because he does. He simply cannot be relied upon to be a leader when the battle is being lost.

Great leaders thrive on adversity. Hooper cringes. It has always been that way for Carl Hooper ever since he turned down the captaincy of the Guyana youth team when he was still a teen.

But if Hooper's shot-selection was the only reason for my exasperation, then his diehard supporters could legitimately suggest I'm not being fair. But, as in the first match, Hooper's use of bowlers has been bizarre.

Why was Chris Gayle bowling the 50th over? Sure, he was bowling iron-balls during the four previous overs but, at the death, why not calculate the rotation to make sure Vasbert Drakes gets the ball? Didn't he learn anything from the previous squeaker?

Even then, why didn't Drakes get a full spell when it was clear Lance Klusener was getting the better of the off-spinners?

Questions, questions, questions. But no answers. Because, when Hooper speaks, he makes a habit of blaming everyone but himself.

For a change skipper, how about saying: "I played a bad shot. Put the blame on me"? How about being a stand-up guy and accepting responsibility for the bad losses, just like you get the bouquets when the team excels?

While Hooper gets the bulk of the post-mortem brickbats there's a ton of blame to go around. Nixon McLean, returning to the side because of Viv Richards' "horses for courses" strategy, was putrid.

His bowling line reads: 6-0-38-0. Trust me folks, it was worse than that. In the early going, it was 3-0-20-0 and you got the feeling there was a good reason he was in the wilderness the past two years. Where Dillon was impeccable (1/30 from 10), McLean was wild. When he strayed in line, Fleming gave him the treatment. When his length was off, Cairns casually rocked back and got the maximum.

In the field, he booted balls like he was a nervous debutant. When Ricardo Powell (our version of Jonty Rhodes at backward point) was shying at the stumps for a crucial run-out chance, McLean caught the ball yards in front of the wicket. Schoolboy cricket from a player who got picked because of his experience.

Chris Gayle, with his flailing bat, is another one that needs to look in the mirror and realise there's something amiss. All the gains in India seems to have been forgotten. He is back to the leaden-footed Gayle who believes only in his power. This is the World Cup. There is no bigger stage. Gayle needs to know he's in the team primarily as a top-of-the-order threat. If he doesn't get it, he must sit.

Today, the 'Big Three' choked. We got 2, 2, and 3 from Lara, Chanderpaul, and Hooper when 242 was the target for the Super Six. If anyone had given me a 242 target before this match with that batting line-up, I'd have taken it in a heartbeat.

It was Ramnaresh Sarwan who batted like Hooper should have and saved our blushes. His 99-ball 75 in partnership with Ricardo Powell and the veteran soldier Ridley Jacobs gave a measure of hope. There will come a time when Sarwan will be the West Indies captain. He is already showing he is ready for the pressure-cooker atmosphere that is international cricket. He looks like he wants to be there, much like Michael Jordan always wanted the final shot.

But alas, Sarwan's heroics were a little too late. All because of Carl Hooper.

* Ryan Naraine is editor-in-chief of CaribbeanCricket.com. He is sleep deprived. He will check hate mail and love letters at ryan@caribbeancricket.com after a long sleep.