After the Housecleaning...

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has decided to clean house. Roger Harper is gone and now captain Carl Hooper has been sacked, leaving manager Ricky Skerritt as the sole survivor of the leadership triumvirate that presided over some of the darkest days in West Indies cricket.

By going back to Brian Lara and opting to give the head coach job to Australia's Bennett King -- the first time a foreigner will coach the Caribbean side -- the board has made it clear it's time to think outside the box and plan definitely for the future. These are decisions that should be applauded throughout the Caribbean.

The decision to dump Hooper effectively brings the curtains down on the career of the Guyanese batting stylist, one of only six West Indians to play in more than 100 Test matches. In a recent radio interview, Hooper hinted strongly he would hang up his whites if he was not retained as captain because he did not want to stick around to rob a younger player of a place in the side.

Hooper is right. He is blocking the emergence of Marlon Samuels and, if he's not around as captain to help mould the side, then he should announce his retirement. His 37-year-old knees are uncooperative and have robbed him of mobility, both as a batsman and as a slip-fielder and it is depressing to watch him limp around trying to stay on top of his game.

Like him or not (and I'm a founder-member of the anti-Hooper camp), Hooper served a purpose when he returned from his premature retirement to take over from Jimmy Adams for the 2000/01 home series against South Africa.

Overall, Hooper has underachieved but it is easy to shine a spotlight on his 36.46 average and call him a "colossal failure," as the Barbadian commentator Andrew Mason has unfairly done. In 102 Tests for the West Indies, Hooper's has scored 5,762 runs at an average of 36.46, with 13 centuries and 27 fifties but ever since he took over as skipper, his batting has surged, leading to a healthy average of 45.97 in 22 Tests (four centuries). Before the horrible World Cup campaign when he stunk up the joint, we were all applauding his rennaisance. Let's be fair now, how many of you would have dropped Hooper from the side six months ago?

That's the story of Hooper. You either love him or loathe him. Even when the decision was made to relieve him of the captaincy, it was one that divided the three-man selection panel.

Chief selector Viv Richards, a staunch Hooper backer, made it clear he wanted Hooper to keep the job. "We live in a democracy and we all have various votes," Richards said in response to a question about whether Hooper was sacked based on his leadership record. "You will have to ask the other two [selectors]. I can give you my answer. I felt Carl did really, really well," Richards declared.

But, in the end, it became a game of numbers and Hooper lost that one. His win-loss record in 22 tests is among the worst of any West Indies captain, even Brian Lara who once quit and blamed his team's "devastating failures".

Richards' preference was to have Hooper retained as captain for at least the two home series while Ramnaresh Sarwan is groomed to take over. His argument was that it would be disruptive to replace Hooper ahead of two tough home series but he was eventually out-voted by his counterparts.

The decision on the captaincy was delayed for more than a week to allow Richards and co-selectors Gordon Greenidge and Joey Carew to find a unanimous choice but, judging from Richards' statements, it was clear he wanted to go to battle against Australia with Hooper at the helm.

Carew and Greenidge were adamant Hooper would find it tough to command a place in the side, leading to their decision to disagree with Richards and recommend Lara for the job.

More importantly, Richards' panel is in look-ahead mode. They have pinpointed Sarwan as the future captain and it is up to Lara and the new management team to make sure he is properly groomed for the role in 2-3 years' time. "Sarwan's performances on and off the field should ensure him a long future in West Indies cricket and this appointment is viewed as developmental with an eye to the future," the board said. "The WICB feels very confident about this appointment and Sarwan will be exposed to a leadership training to assist him in his new role," it added.

Beyond this "leadership training," the board must assign specific tasks for the vice captain instead of just having him help to set the field when Lara takes a bathroom break. For a start, Sarwan should conduct all the media interviews (including daily press conferences) during the Australia series.

Also, Sarwan must sit in on all team selection meetings and his input in those discussions must be demanded by Lara and Logie, who will be the temporary head coach until Bennett King takes over on the next away tour.

If the board is serious about Sarwan being its long-term captain, the leadership training must not be limited to yawn-inducing lectures by so-called psychologists and intellectuals. It must involve actual work in things like team selection, dealing with the media and even on-field decision-making with field placement and bowling changes.

It would be a shame to have simply tag Sarwan as vice-captain and not give him specific roles. The board has shown itself capable of thinking outside the box. It is up to the team management to expand on it.

Only then will today's house-cleaning bear real fruit.

** In part two, Ryan Naraine will take a look at the reinstatement of manager Ricky Skerritt and confirmation of Roger Brathwaite as WICB CEO. Part three of this analysis will feature a Q&A interview with the new head coach Bennett King.