Logie-Lara Heading for Splitsville?

Just eight months into the Logie/Lara leadership tandem, there are worrying signs that a nasty split is inevitable.

Anyone reading the tea leaves can see the cracks appearing and Gus Logie's public statements have done nothing to quell speculation that the head coach and the superstar captain are miles apart on issues of team preparation and planning.

The latest evidence comes via a Tony Cozier Sunday column where Logie is quoted as saying that no video footage of South Africa's series in England or Zimbabwe's two Tests in Australia was available to coaches or players prior to the tour.

According to the head coach, he was given tapes from England on the Phase Alternating Line (PAL) system, which is used primarily in the U.K and was useless since the WICB only had equipment to view the NTSC format (used by televisions in the U.S. and the Caribbean).

"As far as Zimbabwe was concerned, there was nothing -- PAL, NTSC, whatever. When, on arrival in Harare, the West Indies management asked the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) to borrow some tapes of their Australian Tests, they drew an understandable refusal from officials, shocked by their temerity," Cozier wrote, using Logie as the primary source.

When Cozier's column appeared in newspapers around the Caribbean on Sunday, Logie's statements came as a shock to officials at the WICB secretariat in Antigua. "Tony (Cozier) and/or Gus somehow got the information wrong here. There was no real shortage of intelligence on South Africa coming in to this series," one high-level source explained, insisting video footage (in the correct formats) were given to Lara during the pre-tour camp in Antigua.

In fact, the official explained, the WICB purchased a multi-system TV/VCR and installed it in Lara's room at the Jolly Beach Hotel for the duration of the Antigua camp to ensure footage in PAL or NTSC could be viewed by the captain.

Included in those tapes were footage of South African captain Graeme Smith scoring double centuries against England and additional videos of England and Zimbabwe in action.

In Cozier's column, he made mention of Lara saying he had never seen Smith in action, another claim that brought a bewildered look to several officials close to the team.

What no one can explain is why Lara was furnished with the video footage and the head coach seems so detached from everything. How can Logie make such a damning statement against the operations unit of the WICB when his team captain was in possession of the required footage?

And, why is the board dealing directly with Lara and not involving Logie in the goings-on? (Lara even took video tapes home with him to Trinidad months ago to help with the PAL-to-NTSC conversion)

When there's trouble brewing, the first hints are usually made in public comments, even those cloaked in diplomatic language. During the Zimbabwe leg of this tour, Logie (again via Cozier) also dropped some not-so-subtle hints of discomfort with Lara's captaincy and tactics.

"Yes, we do have discussions on the way things should be but, as we know, Brian has his own ideas. Sometimes in the middle you have a different perspective on the best laid plans...I've said to him that there should be the total involvement of the team, that the team should know what's happening," Logie said.

Here's another gem from the head coach: "Once the captain and the team are in sync with each other and we as a support group are here, we're going in the right direction."

Do you really need a translation?

Those quotes came after the West Indies hung on for dear life to draw the first Test when Lara's bowling changes and on-field tactics were nothing short of puzzling. It seemed Logie was as exasperated as anyone else with the captain's unconventional spontaneity (again, Logie's words).

Lara and Logie have had their run-ins, dating back to the days when Logie captained Lara in the Trinidad & Tobago senior team. Those were the days when Lara was viewed as a moody superstar prone to tantrums. Those who should know insist Lara has "grown considerably" since those days but Logie's isolation in this latest video footage controversy points to something troubling.

Can the Lara-Logie marriage survive? Don't bet the house.