Leadership and Brian Lara

As the West Indies continue to perform in a manner which has brought disgust to all West Indians and even to cricket lovers all over the world, the blame game is rife. On top of the list is, captain Brian Lara. He has been blamed, just as his predecessors, Jimmy Adams, Courtney Walsh, and Carl Hooper.

It has been said that his leadership lacks motivation. I beg to differ; and before anyone thinks that I am a blind follower, I am not. I am just taking an objective look at leadership at the team level in West Indies cricket.

Every good leader, in whatever sphere of activity, needs to have a plan that will achieve the desired result, which is some kind of success. If one looks at the history of Test cricket in the West Indies, one will see that Clive Lloyd was the genius. It was his four-pronged pace attack that gave West Indies their moment in the sun.

And what was the thinking behind this stroke of genius? Simple really; when he looked at the regional teams, he saw that each had an opening bowler or two who had real pace and who more importantly, were strike bowlers who at worst, would take two or three wickets per innings. And, given a pitch in their favour, would be able to be devastating. These bowlers too, it must be remembered, bowled to the top batsmen most times and were responsible for getting early success.

Lloyd realized that most territories had their strike bowlers first up, except for the spinner who would come on as quickly as possible, if conditions were right. The plan then would be to pick the best pacer(s) from each team and this would guarantee that most teams would wilt under the pressure. It worked. It worked so well that even when the analysts started to put the plan under the microscope, they came up with benefits I am not sure even Lloyd saw when he came up with the idea.

Now, that idea worked. But it didn't work in a vacuum. Other things had to come together; the batting, the fielding, the professional attitude and the support all came together. Remember, Lloyd had a trainer in place to keep his team, especially the fast bowlers fit and a psychologist who knew what he was doing.

The rest is history. As I see it, no disrespect intended, but Sir Vivian Richards and Richie Richardson prospered as captains from Clive Lloyd's legacy. And for those who are diving into the record books, this is not about records, it is about the idea that worked.

The four-pronged is no more, and with it went the fortunes of West Indies cricket. Brian Lara in his first stint and his failed predecessors, as I see it, didn't have a recognizable plan. They were trying to hang on to an idea that had done its time.

Lara, in his second stint, seemed to have come up with a plan. I think it involves, giving young talented players a chance to come to the fore. This is epitomized by the Fidel Edwards pick and the faith in Ramnaresh Sarwan and it seemed at some time in the past, Marlon Samuels. I listen to Lara and he talks about trying to give the type of guidance that will enable these young players, like Dwayne Bravo, Tino Best and Jerome Taylor, to realize their potential. Good plan; the only problem is, this will take time.

The reality is, cricket is not easiest game in the world, maybe more challenging for batsmen than bowlers which makes what is happening now with our bowlers a mockery.

There are deficiencies in the plan. Clearly, appropriate coaching is one and the professional attitude of the players is also missing, just to name the glaring ones.

The irony is that Lara may not be the one to benefit from his plan, his vision. But such is the luck of sports.

* Urel Sawyers is a teacher/journalist and qualified multi-sport coach certified under the National Coaching Course of Canada.