Lara's Leadership is Wanting

The Test cricket segment of the West Indies tour of South Africa came to a predictable and ignominious end, culminating in a ten wicket defeat at the hands of the rampant South Africans, resulting in a 3-0 series loss.

In the end, the level of contempt and disregard that the South African players and media had built up for the West Indian players was palpably obvious to all. It was a tour that took our cricket backwards, on and off the field.

The rank disregard was evident throughout. From Graeme Smith's comment that the West Indies should "drop the bravado and show more dedication and determination" to journalist Neil Manthorp taking general swipes -- albeit well deserved -- at the entire team, our culture and way of life, clearly shows this disregard.

Generally, in well-run organizations, failure -- moreover failure to perform -- is met with swift and sure action. Heads roll, individuals are reassigned, departments are realigned, but the status quo is not preserved.

After the South Africa debacle, the WICB needs to take a close look at Brian Lara, and make some tough decisions about his continued tenure as captain. Although Lara has been nothing less than otherworldly with the bat, his on-field deficiencies have been glaring. From all the reports, going back to the Zimbabwe leg of the tour, the overriding theme has been one of a singular lack of planning and preparation, book ended by Lara's admission that he did not expect the Zimbabweans to be so tough and culminating with the shenanigans surrounding the team selection for the final test.

In between, we were assailed by the commentators who should know of such things, of continued poor practice and warm up habits of the players, which was borne out on the field by inept fielding and bowling performances by all and sundry, the tape fiasco, and worse yet, by dissension between the captain and coaches.

It is this last bit that is troubling, because it shows that Lara is not prepared to work in a structured environment. Regardless of what he may think of the competence of the support staff, professional courtesy would dictate that he work with them as seamlessly as possible for the good of the team. Even more surprising was the report emanating first from Neil Manthorp, and confirmed by Tony Cozier, that Lara unilaterally changed the team for the final test, inserting the struggling Mervyn Dillon for Adam Sanford. Lara has since denied overruling Richards in his Trinidad Guardian column, as if anyone expected otherwise.

To those who have always looked askance at Lara's protestations of being a changed, more mature person, this has come as no surprise, The only difference about Lara, in his first tenure as captain, and this present one, is that he is more media savvy and his PR handlers are on the offensive.

Witness his attack on the Caribbean media in South Africa, including the doyen Tony Cozier, for criticising the ineptness of the West Indies team performance, a performance that, as Cozier succinctly pointed out, was available for all the West Indian fans to judge and see.

As five years ago, so today, after our first visit to South Africa we are at a critical point in our cricket history. Can the West Indies team gain from Brian Lara's brand of leadership? A style where only he knows what the next phase of the plan is? After that similarly ill-fated 1999 tour, Lara returned to the Caribbean and was promptly slapped with a sentence of probation by then president Pat Rousseau, whereupon he responded with probably the single greatest performance by any individual West Indian player.

However, this is Lara, he is a great individual player, but he is critically miscast as a leader, and the WICB should seek to correct this grave error before more harm is done to West Indies cricket. Not that this is the most critical error at present in West Indies cricket, but it is the most glaring, because the West Indies team is the flag carrier of West Indian pride and unity, and frankly, the many great individual performances with the bat aside, this series has been painful to watch.

From bowlers who cannot seem to place the ball in the same spot twice, much less for six balls in a row, to attempts at catches that would have made many a schoolboy blush, to head scratching field placements, it was apparent that the on-field leadership was sorely lacking from Lara, and off-field his personality was too overpowering for the meek Gus Logie and rookie coach Kenneth Benjamin to overcome.

Surprisingly all this seemed to escape Lara as it was not until after the third test that he wrote in one of his now infamous articles, published in the Trinidadian Guardian, that "maybe" more fielding practice is needed.

Where was the urgency prior to the first test?

Now some may say that I am picking on Lara, why not any of the coaches? If I were to use Clive Lloyd as the benchmark of great WI captains, rest assured, that regardless of the talent level of the players, West Indies would not have lost through being outworked or outthought on the field, but by a team that had to be superior, and prove it, on that day.

In terms of fitness, Lloyd set the tone and the bar, in ensuring that if all the players had to go into battle fit, he would be the first one leading the calisthenics, and the extra running. One does not see this level of professionalism from Lara. Instead he is busy sniping at the press, who are doing their job, instead of ensuring that the performances of his charges are raised, which is his job.

The WICB, which has never been tough with Brian Lara, has to make a firm decision now. Strip him of the captaincy forthwith, and appoint Ramnaresh Sarwan in his stead. Surround Sarwan with the best support staff that money could hire, and let him work in a structured team environment.

This is the only way forward. This is the only way that West Indies cricket could be prevented from burrowing further into the spider-hole of mediocrity and unprofessionalism that it has found itself. Lara can teach these young players nothing, at least as far as teamwork, preparation and leadership is concerned. This is sad, because Lara more than anyone could make a difference, were he willing to work within a team structure. As it is, he is not; the WI cannot afford more of this.

Let him stay on as a batsman and senior player, but he has to understand in no uncertain terms that he will never be considered for the captaincy again. One who cannot be led cannot lead. It has been that way since time immemorial. As wondrous a batsman as Brian Lara is, he cannot change the essence of his being. To be a supremely great batsman as he undoubtedly is requires a selfishness of being that does not translate itself well to leadership. He is as he is, and West Indies cricket remains where it is.

There is an old adage that states, "Success has many fathers, while failure is an orphan." Let not this latest failure be an orphan. Let the WICB assign blame where it belongs and make the necessary changes for the betterment of West Indies cricket.