Wes Hall in Wonderland

"Curiouser and curiouser" was the phrase that Alice uttered in the famous children's book. That's an apt description to apply to the West Indies Cricket Board's (WICB) efforts to find a new coach to replace Roger Harper.

It was first announced, by way of a Tony Cozier article in the Barbados Nation on February 23, that Eldine Baptiste, Gus Logie and Bennett king were on the shortlist of candidates for the vacant post. If anyone would get a peek at the WICB shortlist, Cozier was that man. That report led to speculation that the WICB would depart from years of tradition and hire its first foreign coach -- Bennett King.

Suddenly, on March 5, we were broad sided with the news that Bob Woolmer, the coach credited with making South Africa the team that they are today, and the man most credited with introducing the use of technology in international cricket, had interviewed with Viv Richards and Wes Hall in South Africa during the World Cup.

According to the respected BBC, Woolmer was asked to apply by the head of the Shell Cricket Academy, Rudy Webster. The timing of all this suggests that Bob Wollmer applied and was granted an interview after the deadline for applications had passed in mid-January.

It was doubly surprising then, to hear Rev. Hall in an interview on CBC Radio where he denied having interviewed Woolmer, but rather made it clear Woolmer had interviewed with some mysterious "other officials".

That was not all. Woolmer added his own touch to the bizarre episode when he announced that he was not interested in being a day-to-day coach, but rather he was more interested in a technical advisor's role (whatever that means). Said Bob Woolmer" "I haven't said no. I was quite up front with them in terms of my physical capabilities."

Wes Hall had his own take on that when he grumpily stated: "The position open is that of a coach."

All this begs the question: Is Wes Hall really in charge? Shouldn't he know who was interviewed and who the suitable candidates are? Is Bob Woolmer's candidacy totally a surprise to him, much less, the request/demand by Woolmer to change the parameters of the job? That would be like me being interviewing for the job of bank teller and suggesting that they hire me as CFO instead, since that job would suit my "physical capabilities" better. Yes, I too like to sit on my ass on some sunny Caribbean island and earn a fat paycheck.

Is this an example of the new dispensation that we the fans of West Indies cricket were promised under the tenure of Wes Hall?

This is not totally without precedent either. During the Pat Rousseau regime, when Roger Harper was hired as coach; both he and Jeff Dujon were interviewed for the position. Suddenly, after Harper landed the job, the WICB saw it fit to appoint Jeff Dujon as an assistant coach.

It did not matter that none of those candidates had in fact interviewed for the job of assistant coach, nor were they told while being interviewed that they would be working with an assistant. Neither were they even given the option of choosing an assistant that they would feel comfortable working with. Is it any wonder Harper and Dujon soon clashed heads?

As if that weren't bad enough, after the hiring process was complete, the coaches were then told that they would be reporting to Ricky Skerritt.

This was a huge departure from the previous management team of Clive Lloyd as manager and Malcolm Marshall as coach, where Marshall did not report to Lloyd, and was not stated in the terms under which the job was advertised. Is it any wonder that that unholy management triumvirate did not work, and that Dujon is lost somewhere in the bowels of the WICB hierarchy, even as a well-paid employee. Did we even get an announcement about why Dujon was no longer an assistant coach? That's openness?

Obviously, Wes Hall and company have not learned the history of the missteps of the previous administrations, because they certainly seem hell bent on repeating them.

This really should be a simple exercise to hire a coach. But, like a lot of things with the WICB, the simple becomes complex and the complex becomes insurmountable. They would have a hard time arranging a piss-up in a brewery.

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