Brian Lara's Con Job

(Editor's Note: A heavily edited version of this column first appeared in the Stabroek News)

Before I even start this article, I will say that I make no excuses or apologies for it. This is not about personalities, despite the severe external stimuli that the insecurity of some of the subjects seems to incur. I do not have any agenda at all. I simply do not want to be conned. In my mind, Brian Lara, as captain of the present West Indies cricket team, has now, simply, degenerated into trying to con the Caribbean and me with it.

Most Caribbean folks, including our much less than revered West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), make much noise, but make much less sense, when it comes to our cricket. Maybe they should attend some of the tours that I have covered. Their insides would be continuously violated, decimated worse than if cancer had eaten it away, with embarrassment garnered from the West Indies cricket team's ineptitude.

Most of us here in the Caribbean are very desperately insecure and even downright dishonest when it comes to West Indies cricket. Unfortunately for most of us, it is not that we do not know the truth. It is that we do not want to accept it as the truth, so we continue to fool ourselves. I once heard, from "Old Sylvie," my mom, who died aged 80, that "you can fool everyone else, but you cannot fool yourself."

Oh, by the way, without being arrogant or any such thing, it is not, as has been suggested elsewhere, because I was a part of a West Indies XI that went to South Africa in 1983 (something that I have a long time ago paid for, maybe still paying, to be honest, and have apologized to the United Nations and the rest of the Caribbean for) that the present West Indies cricket team has been making scores of 54, 51 and 47!!

I will continue to bell the damned cat!!

If you remember, I was the first person to suggest, in 1996, that it was very wrong to allow Brian Lara the captaincy position then. He was just too immature for the effort at that time. I have been proved right with that.

In April last year, when he was given the captaincy again, I grudgingly acknowledged the appointment, since he seemed our only possible choice then, with the departure; some say he was pushed or kicked; of Carl Hooper. However, Lara has again failed and failed miserably.

Here are some numbers that should not excite anyone who is truly involved and cares about West Indies cricket. It is hoped that they are really assimilated and understood.

The following is the record of the present West Indies cricket team captain, Brian Lara, while operating of captain of that entity, up to the 2nd Test match against England at the Queens Park Oval in March 2004.

1996-1999: Played 18 Games: Won 6: Lost 10: Drawn 2
2003-2004: Played 14 Games: Won 3: Lost 8: Drawn 3

The immediate and obvious observation is that the 2nd tenure of Brian Lara as captain of the West Indies cricket team is even worse than the first effort, and the first effort was bad enough. That is incredible!!

Captain Lara suggests, I can only suppose facetiously, since nothing else makes sense, that "we should not panic at recent results and events", even though we have lost some 42 Test matches from the approximately 65 we have played over the last six or so years. When, would I ask, are we to panic?

There are at least two situations that every captain of especially the West Indies cricket teams must maintain, regardless of what actual XI of the team are selected. These have nothing to do with wins at all.

Forgetting for a moment that I actually played Test cricket, the captain of the West Indies cricket team is in charge of an entity that represents me, as a West Indian individual. Quite simply, I need proper representation and if I do not get that, I have every right to complain and ask for better. The representation over the last several years have been depressingly inadequate, to sat the least.

Firstly, the captain must be totally inspirational. To be very honest, the last "totally" inspirational captain that the West Indies cricket team had was Richie Richardson, the same Richie Richardson who was so badly treated in the tour of the United Kingdom of 1995, and by most of us afterwards, that, soon afterwards, had to seek solace by removing himself from the cricket for a spell. Had he not been so strong a person, he would have lost his mind after the way we treated him.

Jimmy Adams, Courtney Walsh, Carl Hooper and now Brian Lara have been nothing but "square pegs in a round holes," perhaps the greatest invention in the Caribbean, so well used it is in these parts. Being a good, even great cricketer, does always not make for a good captain. Just ask India's Sachin Tendulkar or even Courtney Walsh.

The captain must be able to bring out the best in his players, regardless of whom they are. Brian Lara has been singularly lacking in that aspect during his two tenures as captain. At least, he is honest enough to admit it, though it seems that no-one heard it.

"I am hoping that the senior players in the cricket team could take up their much needed responsibilities, do their part to help the team, since we need help." This was Brian Lara speaking before the start of the 2nd Test in T&T last week.

If that is not indicative of a lack of inspiration from the captain, then nothing is. Has anyone ever heard Clive Lloyd asking Viv Richards or Deryck Murray for help? These three were almost co-captains, so involved were they together; a captaincy unit. When Viv became captain, did anyone hear him suggest that Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes needed to help him? These two worked themselves to the bone, helping Viv, for Prime Minister, people and country. Even when, against all odds, Richardson became captain instead of Dessie Haynes, Haynes himself helped his captain as the senior pro. Obviously, Lara cannot get the same from Shiv Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Chris Gayle. The present captain confirmed his uselessness as a captain himself!

Secondly, the captain must be honest with everyone involved with the cricket. Brian Lara is not dishonest, per se, but truly the best politician that the Caribbean has. He will tell the accepting public anything that they want to hear, since most of them would gobble it up without even listening. The trouble is, he knows this and uses it to his advantage.

Unfortunately, actions speak louder than any words. It is somewhat fortunate, though, that I have traveled everywhere around the world seeing the West Indies perform, or under-perform, more live than Memorex. The indications are not good at all. For every tour that I have covered, Lara, as captain, has suggested, at their starts, that the team will do well. By the time two of the Tests of the series had been completed, that changes to "we are going to be competitive" to "we will do our best." Total crap!!

In my mind, there is nothing in place, but hope, where West Indies senior team cricket is concerned and the biggest purveyor of this tripe is the present captain. Prayer and faith might move mountains but "Hope" does not win cricket games. Proper planning and tremendous execution do. "None are so blind as they that cannot see."

There is a saying that a captain and a team are as good as the players in that team. That is maybe. Lara helps pick the team, therefore he must take the responsibilities of that team, not pass those responsibilities, with feeble excuses, on to players whom he might claim have not done their jobs. That is supposed to be the forte of a captain, to take the responsibilities and to make the players play out of their skins.

What purpose would Lara have as continuing captain? In my mind, there is none whatsoever. He is still an excellent batsman and should continue to play as that, ala Sachin Tendulkar. If he rebels at the thought and does not want to play at all, then he goes too. Lara is not god, but a cricket player that will one day end his playing days. It is that simple. There was cricket before Brian Lara and there will be long after he goes anyway.

The semi-final con (for want of a better term) came in the 2nd Test. Purportedly as some strategy, but more from stupidity than anything else, captain Lara let it be known that he allowed Ridley Jacobs to bat ahead of him, the venerable wicket-keeper batting at No. 4 while the world's No. 2 batsman bats at No. 6. Does that make sense to anyone? If it does, please explain it to me. It was so asinine that no comment is needed.

What did the captain expect? Did he think that, after being bowled out for 47 last week, both Jacobs and Shiv Chanderpaul, batting at No. 5, would have made double hundreds, highly unlikely, to save his bacon, or was he simply scared to fail again against his nemesis, the English?

What, the world's No. 2 batsman running scared of Harmison and company? I wonder what type of psychological message the English got, seeing the West Indies best batsman and the world's No. 1 or No. 2 batsman cowering from them. I must be going insane!!

Whatever it was, it was a con job and even though the Caribbean knew they were being conned, they swallowed the filth with ne'er a whisper. Not even sheep can be so docile, especially as all is falling around them. Again I ask. Does anyone out there really care?

All Brian Lara has to do is to state the obvious. He is not batting well; he has no form but he intends to fight back in time. He is good enough yet to do that. Sacrificing his fellow players for his convenience is thrash and highly selfish. I am sure that even Lara knows this. I will also say this. Lara is still so good as a batsman that despite the efforts of the English, I expect him to make a hundred in one of the next two Test matches against the English.

While I was playing for the West Indies, on my third tour of Australia, Greg Chappell, the Aussie captain and No. 3 batsman, made three ducks in a row from six innings against us. His other three innings may have totaled 10 runs. He never demoted himself. Has anyone seen Sachin demote himself when he has failed? Sport at the top is psychological warfare, not selfishness, cons and cowardice!!

The final con was to hear the captain asking for "all of the former greats, especially Viv Richards and Gordon Greenidge, for their help." Let me ask a question here. Where the hell did "Smoking" and "G's" go to? The answer: Nowhere! Indeed, Viv was the coach in 1999/2000 when the West Indies was so annihilated in New Zealand. He was promptly discarded. All Brian Lara is doing here is trying to con us again into allowing him to continue as captain, for at least the next England tour. I wonder why that is?

Folks like these two and Mike Holding, Ian Bishop, even myself and many others have been asking, even begging, to help. No-one heeded our requests and the players sometimes actually reject information.

Here is something for you to contemplate. The West Indies Under 19 team was in a camp in Antigua & Barbuda before going to the recent Youth World Cup, yet Curtly Ambrose, who lives there, was not even invited to help out!! Amazing!!

There are too many egos involved here and not enough total commitment to the whole. Everyone is more interested in his own position to understand that the West Indies cricket team has become the laughing stock of the cricket world, despite what the West Indies Cricket Board thinks. All anyone needs to do is to go to South Africa or New Zealand and find out!!

Finally, the captaincy stakes. Like South Africa did with Graeme Smith, or New Zealand did with Stephen Flemming or even Australia did with Mark "Tubby" Taylor, the West Indies cricket fraternity must also bite the bullet and pick someone who can naturally make the team, may remain in it for some time, and allow him to learn in the job, as those three named had done. Graeme Smith is still only 22, while Flemming is now a bit older, after being made captain at the same age. After Allan Border, Mark Taylor was also great surprise.

For the West Indies, there are only two candidates that could be considered under those qualifications now; young and almost always will play; Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan. Both are sufficiently arrogant to be good enough, given the right surrounding, not that of other players, senior or otherwise, undermining their authority. The choice could be either, but that person must be allowed to run his ship, ala Clive Lloyd or Viv Richards, with the considerable help of whatever senior players remain. If the seniors do not want to co-operate, then they can be discarded too. The West Indies cricket team needs strong leadership on the field of play, not con men for leaders!!

* Colin Croft appeared in 27 Tests for the West Indies, picking up 125 wickets at 23.30. He is covering the current series against England for the BBC and other broadcast outlets.