It's Time to Empower Viv
Like a mangy old dog, the West Indies team management can bark all it wants, but everyone knows it has no teeth.
Marlon Samuels knows this -- the dog once barked at him but it got kicked and had to shut up. The fact is, since the departure of Pat Rosseau, no one at the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has had any teeth at all. Everyone seems so intent on doing everyone else's job that no one can do anything.
It's time for Teddy Griffith to make his name as the president who clearly defined what everyone's job is, and empowered them to do it. A good starting place would be giving Viv Richards the authority and backing to re-introduce the West Indies cricket team to the concept of discipline.
Viv Richards has nothing to prove to anyone when comes to his commitment to West Indies cricket. As an international celebrity and a national ambassador, he simply does not need to endure the slings and arrows of West Indies cricket's outrageous misfortune. Yet he does, even after being snubbed for the coaching position in favour of Roger Harper due to a 'lack of qualifications'. Clearly this man is trying to make a difference.
Read through the job descriptions for the post of team manager, or head coach, or any of them, and you will see all the expectations. Nowhere will you see any guarantees or even indications of support from the board of directors. As long as the WICB is content to delegate responsibility without granting authority, no one can be effective.
Recently, Richards has called for tour management to be given more authority in disciplinary matters. Although he was choosing his words carefully, it is easy to read between the lines and feel his frustration with the politicking, the red tape, and the system of many masters that prevents anyone from doing anything.
Two years ago, before he was named Chairman of Selectors, he stated:
"It is evident that we are not fully sure who is in control. This has been a huge problem."
"We need to not pass the buck, but let individuals know what their roles are in the team."
"If you are there for management, then manage. If there is a coach, then he must coach. I just believe that sometimes we can have too many chefs in the kitchen."
I think that what Sir Viv is alluding to here is the way that the WICB directors, through its Executive Committee, micro manages every aspect of the administration of West Indies cricket. Instead of hiring competent people and letting them get on with their jobs, the way that successful businesses do, the board members involve themselves in things that they have no business meddling with.
Case in point - a simple personnel appointment like Kenny Benjamin as bowling coach had to go to the full board, rather than just to the CEO. The appointment was then held up for two weeks because one of the directors -- Leewards president Enoch Lewis -- had a personal issue with Benjamin.
The WICB's Shell Cricket Academy in Grenada is another example of EC interference and cronyism. Imagine how frustrated Micheal Seepersaud, theoretically the man responsible for the academy, must be when he is constantly overruled by the Board. You see, despite a damning report on Academy director Rudi Webster's shortcomings by the non-partisan Australian coaches 'Toot' Byron and Tim Coyle, the Board of Directors favour Webster.
And although he may not publicly admit it, Michael Hall left the WICB because he was not allowed to make the decisions that should have been his as Chief Cricket Operations Officer. A competent administrator lost to West Indies cricket.
Until the Board of Directors relinquishes its death grip on the day to day affairs of West Indies cricket, the WICB will remain a useless entity flailing about wildly and gasping for air. The Executive Committee should stick to its mandate of managing the WICB in between board meetings and leave the skilled staff to get on with their jobs without undue interference. Most importantly, the employees of the WICB must given clear authority appropriate for their responsibilities.
With the honeymoon over, Teddy Griffith must now stand up and be counted and make things happen. Nothing worthwhile happened during Wes Hall's reign, a sad legacy for a great cricketer who accepted the challenge to contribute to West Indies cricket once again.
Hall failed to meet that challenge, and now it falls to Griffith. The new president has a golden opportunity right now to separate himself from the cronyism and rise above the petty politics. It's a chance he can't afford to miss.