Is Winning no Longer Important?

The son of a friend in Antigua & Barbuda, during the 4th Test against England, probably said it best at the end of Day No. 2 of Test No. 4: "Today, after all that we have had done to us by the English cricketers this tour, it is good to be a West Indian."

That was a perfect comment, for by then, Brian Lara had flashed his way to be well past 300 and on his way, 68 runs away then, to regaining his world record batting title. Overnight, even Australian Matthew Hayden, who still held the record going into the 3rd day, was urging Lara on to the record, even maybe 400, something that was eventually achieved.

At least Lara confirmed one more general thought. He still likes big splashes. Additionally, the timing could not be better, the Easter Monday holiday, the state of the series and all. The West Indies needed a lift. Debate raged everywhere that night as to whether the declaration should have been made then, with the West Indies nearing 600, to try to win the Test match, or if Lara should try to get the individual batting record. Simply, history had been made, again.

Without any reservations whatsoever I would like to, as every West Indian, former Test player, former club cricketer, supporter or just pure citizen, should do, heartily congratulate the present West Indies cricket team captain, Brian Lara, for his tremendously overwhelming performance of not only retaking the world's Test cricket batting record, but for being the first and only person, so far, to have made 400 in an individual Test batting innings.

The innings was a masterpiece, with perhaps one half-chance; a quadruple hundred to go with the five double centuries he already has, an unprecedented 2nd opportunity to hold the world's Test batting record, a comeback to rival those of the great heavyweight boxer, Muhammad Ali.

Fortunately for me, I have been at the venues to see all of them except his 277 in Sydney in 1993. The 688-run aggregate in three Tests in Sri Lanka in 2001 is still very special to me, but a world record is a world record. Of course, the hoopla would continue for, against and about his captaincy. Incidentally, was Lara not selected in the first place so that he could make runs, many of them? When he gets runs, all that he is doing is his job; well. If you follow the batting exploits of Brian Lara properly, without the noise, which, unfortunately, most of his so-called admirers do not, you would find that he has made more runs, pro-rated, as Test team captain, than when he was not the captain of the team. Contrary to many thoughts, batting-wise, the captaincy has been good to Lara's average.

One thing that did happen during this excellent Lara innings, batting at No. 3, was that I felt very justified about my utterings after the 2nd Test, in Trinidad & Tobago, in which Lara batted at No. 6 and for which I suggested he should be removed as captain. No. 6!!

Of course, many will not now remember that circumstance; selective amnesia. There was some suggestion then, by Lara and by his pull-by-the-nose personal supporters, of some sort of "strategy" for such a move. What strategy, may I ask, again, is necessary for the world's No. 1 ranked batsman to demote himself to bat at No. 6 from No. 3 or No. 4? It was rank foolishness and could well have cost the West Indies that 2nd Test!

Regardless of his own personal achievements, a captain's main contribution must be effectively getting the best from his team, along with himself, of course. Arsenal captain, Frenchman Patrick Viera or Manchester United captain, Roy Keane, are both on the lower end of their respective soccer team's scoring sheets. Even England's soccer captain David Beckham does not score that much for his international team. Germany's captain, goalkeeper Oliver Kahn, would do well to score at all, but his inspiration is still all-important.

Maybe you could ask the recently retired Australian captain Steve Waugh about that inspiration, or even India's Sourav Ganguly. Maybe now the real West Indian cricket enthusiast would understand what a captain's real job is. Only recently, former West Indian captain Richie Richardson spoke of his then captain, Clive Lloyd, and Lloyd's inspiration!! Lara's move in Test No. 2 was far from inspirational. Had he batted at No. 3 or No 4 then, and failed, it would have served a better purpose.

Last week, between Tests No. 3 and No. 4, I was in the process of having my car's "fitness" completed in west Port-of-Spain. The female manager's husband had died recently, while the West Indies cricket team had been in South Africa over Christmas last. I offered my condolences and then suggested "considering the way that you look, so very beautiful etc., perhaps your husband died a very happy man, with great excitement and contentment on his mind." Before the blushing lady could even answer, one of her male assistants shouted at me; "Hey, Crofty, how could you say that the woman kill she man?" As I carried on the transaction, I quietly smiled and wondered when I had said that!!

While travelling through Piarco International Airport on my way to Antigua & Barbuda for the 4th Test, I was accosted by a Baggage Handler who proclaimed; "Doan worry wid yu nah, Croft, yu doan like Lara." I simply asked him how he had come to that conclusion. "How yu mean? Yu doan know? Yu doan want he fo captain de West Indies team!! Yu doan like he at all." Again, I mused over when I had said that!

Maybe I am not sure about the English language but where in any of my continuing suggestions that Brian Lara should not be captain of the West Indies cricket team did I suggest that I "do not like him" or, for that matter, his batting?

What is very scary is that Sports Journalists, Sports Editors even, Politicians, Educationists, supposedly highly educated people (Doctorates, etc.) and even Priests, all people who are supposed to be somewhat neutral, as the nature of their businesses dictate, have similar thoughts, even in jest. Does anyone think that Lara would not have made that quadruple century if he were not the captain? He made 375 as a mere player!!

It just goes to confirm what I once heard from a senior Dean of Princeton University during a speech he was giving to new recruits to that prestigious establishment. "Having an education, even to a Doctorate or Professorship, as you can get at Princeton, does not at all mean that you are smart. All those achievements will tell everyone is that you can study well and absorb pertinent information. Being smart is something altogether a different bowl of soup, a very different proposition."

A U.S. Army 4-star General once told me; "People seldom listen to anything anyone says. They hear what they want to hear anyway." He should know, for he has issued orders, sometimes life-saving ones, almost all of his adult life!

I normally give credit where credit is due, but of course no one hears that. That is life, but here is a challenge to all, a chance to "put your money where your mouth is." If anyone can show me that reference, of me "not liking Brian Lara" by any of my writings or utterings, anywhere, either personally or professionally, as a Test batsman, that is, I would stop being a Sports Journalist immediately and even leave the Caribbean permanently (which would please many, I am sure,) maybe go to Florida and drive a truck. Less stress, more money. I challenge anyone anywhere to show me such a reference.

Anyway, being a bit facetious here, even with Bangladesh thrown into the equation, do you think that the West Indies would win a "Test" cricket game this year 2004? It has not yet happened. Mind you, I said "Test" cricket game, not a One Day International, which is normally the great deflector of the West Indies continued dismal performances at the highest level of cricket; Test matches. For our sakes, I sincerely hope we beat Bangladesh, which is not a foregone conclusion, or we could well finish this year without a Test win. Maybe Lara would again break his own record this time, against Bangladesh.

No one sound of mind, and, despite everything and what many may think, I do include myself in this, can question his batsmanship at all, since he averages nearly 60.00 runs per Test innings. Unfortunately, these same figures are used when it comes to his captaincy of the West Indies cricket team and that is where the problem lies.

Oh, by the way, Sir Gary Sobers is the best all-round cricketer that the world has ever seen. I thought that he was a fair captain, but I have not heard many state that Sobers was a great captain and his record in the position is much, much better than Lara's. Sobers is probably behind Frank Worrell, Clive Lloyd and Viv Richards in the "best" captaincy stakes ever of the West Indies. This is the "chicken and egg" story, is it not?

Maybe the paraphrased thoughts of an independent observer, Simon Briggs, (an Australian, I think), a writer on the game's most extensive and influential website, CricInfo, would be useful:

The task (has again) proved as hard, if not harder, second time round, leading a side where he was far and away the best player, not to mention that discipline (on and off the field) was a constant worry. After losing to Australia (3-1) and beating Sri Lanka (1-0) in the Caribbean, and Zimbabwe, just (1-0), he led the West Indies to defeat for a second time in South Africa, (3-0) and then to defeat by England (3-0) in the Caribbean, their first such win since 1968. Despite all of this, Lara still stands alongside Shane Warne, Sachin Tendulkar and perhaps Muttiah Muralitharan as the most charismatic and exciting cricketers of the modern era."

Nothing said here is any different that I had been saying for some time now. Incidentally, neither Sachin nor Shane nor Murali nor Matthew is the captain of his Test team. Many may not like the messenger, but the message is fact. Facts do not lie. Brian Lara is the only person to have been given two clearly separated periods of captaincy of the West Indies cricket team and he has failed badly at both, despite continuing to make a tremendous amount of runs. From 34 Tests as captain, including the last one in Antigua & Barbuda, he has managed to win 9 as captain, losing 19. Nine of the recent losses have come from the last 16 under Lara's 2nd tenure as captain, while winning 3.

Of course, that does not seem to matter to anyone at all. I wonder if anyone saw the lack of inspiration that transpired on the Saturday of the 3rd Test match in Barbados as the West Indies wallowed unto the field and went down to 0-3. With Lara's recent "quadruple", certainly a great comeback, the 3-0 belting that the West Indies took would, as has been in the past, be soon forgotten. Where was the inspiration in Jamaica, folks, in Test No. 1, when it was dearly needed?

If anything else should be reviewed from this tour, it should be wondered why the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) allowed the Test games to be played on "faster, bouncier, greener" pitches in Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago and Barbados, when the home team may not have been suitably equipped to handle them. Indeed, the entire schedule could be reviewed, since travelling from Jamaica (north) to T&T (south) back north to Barbados to Antigua then back to Guyana (south) for the start of the ODI series does not make much sense.

So the one-day series beckons now. Soon, all will have been forgotten about the Test series except Lara's comeback quadruple hundred, a very great achievement.

Seemingly, winning Test matches is no longer very important.