Give Me a Break!

Does it seem odd to anyone else out there that the West Indies team, mid-series, are taking a "break" between the second and third test matches? Why are the players returning home to their respective territories when it is clear there is much work to be done? I am at a loss to understand this move - what can possibly be the reasoning behind it?

In my opinion, it is demonstrative of what we have all come to expect from the WICB. Being pro-active is a foreign concept and where foresight, preparation and planning are totally deficient, we see a complete absence of positive results.

Even if the series was not poised at 2-0 in England's favour, even if it were the West Indies with a 2-0 lead, these players should be entrenched in camp between now and the opening day of the third test match in Barbados on April 1st. Surely any outfit committed to improving, and especially one which has been in dire straits as long as the West Indies, would take advantage of a whole week to bring the players together, out of the spotlight, to hone their craft!

A weeklong break between Test matches is something of a rarity these days, and the time can surely be spent much more productively than sending the players home to relax. If the WICB were committed to moving forward and achieving success, there would be measures in place for the players to participate in both physical and mental training and preparation, to engage in team building activities, to visualise what they want to achieve throughout the remainder of the series and to strategise how best to go about seeing their plans come into fruition. Such activities also promote cohesion and allow the players to work together as a unit so they can come out firing for the next match.

There has been much discussion over the effectiveness, or lack thereof, of West Indies preparation camps. Whatever has been achieved in camps of the past should not be the determining factor; to effectively say "go home, take some time, chill and we'll re-group next week for the match" is something that can only lead to more of the same: a visible absence of planning and an attitude that minimal preparation is acceptable; that the team can just arrive at a venue, take the field, wing it and win. Surely if any lessons have been learned from the string of losses the West Indies team has experienced, it is that taking a lackadaisical view of the importance of sound preparation is just not going to cut it.

Do we see the ECB telling the England players to take a week out, go have some fun in the Caribbean sun and just make sure they are in Barbados in time for the next match? No. The England players will continue to train together and will get in more match practice against the Carib Beer XI as part of their preparations. Already in this series the difference in the amount of preparation has been blindingly obvious to all, yet the West Indies seem loath to do anything about lifting their standards and, in turn, their game.

The powers that be seem to have lost sight of the fact that this is international cricket we are dealing with. This is a professional arena, and in recent times it has appeared that the board is content with preparing as one might for a school match or a bottom-house game. To take this attitude constantly suggests that they are not learning from experience. I wonder what it will take for this to be addressed, and at the same time I feel such great sorrow that any action taken will be reactive rather than proactive.

As with anything in life you reap what you sow, and until such times as the West Indies approach their work with the same level of professionalism as their peers from around the world we will continue to see lack of cohesion amongst the team and failure upon failure will consistently be the outcome.