Bennett's No Beenhakker

Despite the outstanding performances of Dwayne Bravo and Denesh Ramdin, the West Indies lost the Second Test against Australia at Hobart on the weekend. One wonders when the losing will end and what is needed to halt the continuous decline.

This is running parallel with the return of the Soca Warriors from a heroic performance in Bahrain, before a hostile audience in what appeared to be a less-than-welcoming country.

What is the difference between those players -- the footballers -- and the cricketers?

They are all representing the Caribbean and are from the same societies, heir to all the flaws and distractions of this region. Why then does one set perform above and the other, so often, below its capability?

In a short aside with Jack Warner at a function at the Centre of Excellence, he said ?Your heart must be broken.? I replied, ?No. I am as happy as anybody here, though I thought it would be really miraculous to win in Bahrain after we had drawn here.? He laughed and said, ?I mean about the West Indies team. Maybe the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) should ask me to get a Beenhakker for the team.?

Many a true word is spoken in jest, they say. Warner might have been only half joking because he and his team have shown what could be done with vision, determination and commitment to a goal.

Thirty-two years ago Jack Warner was determined that T&T would get to the World Cup finals. For 32 years he worked to repair the disappointment, the devastation of seeing his team score five goals and lose 2-1 to Haiti in 1973. He set his sights and worked literally against the tide for many years, he was opposed by the entire sporting community, at times, by even the footballers themselves.

He never lost sight of his goal and despite the obstacles: the lack of adequate standard of football here, the lack of money to prepare teams properly, he soldiered on, often using his personal funds to keep the game going and his hopes alive.

He used his contacts to get contracts for our players in foreign leagues where they would get the sort of competition that would prepare them for the implacable opposition they would be expected to encounter in the region of World Cup or any serious international competition.

Since 1973, many of this country?s better players have gone to the UK, the USA and Europe. Their standard improved and some of that rubbed off on the locals when they played with or against the foreign?based lot. But what was more important, the attitude and mentality of the local players, the better understanding of team play, of the will to win rather than to merely play ?pretty? football, gradually was taking root here. Nothing happens in a day or before its time.

The 1989 loss to the USA here, 16 years after Haiti must have been like wormwood to all of T&T but especially to Jack. He did not throw up his hands in disappointment and give up. He stuck to it and here, 16 years later, T&T has made the step up to the World Cup.

The entire nation has benefited, is ecstatic about the performance and has found a new reason to be more optimistic, to feel that the crime situation can be resolved. There is a whole new set of flag bearers, models for the youth of the nation to emulate as they turn their backs on anti-social behaviour.

The Soca Warriors did not arrive at their status overnight. That required years of training and rising from one level to the next. That took self-discipline and motivation and many hours of intense training, thought about the game and a definite goal to be achieved in a specified time. So often we see the result without being made aware of the hard work and dedication that went into the achievement.

The Soca Warriors are not merely ?talented.? Can you imagine talented being almost like a curse! The Warriors are men who did not bury their talent but used it to their benefit and the country?s honour.

Jack said maybe the WICB could get him to find a Beenhakker for the players. When one sees the performance they are putting out, even a Beenhakker would have little hope of improving the lot of players who make the same mistakes over and over again and remain in the team. They fail to display even the most basic elements of good cricket and remain on the team because they are talented. But what are they doing with the talent?

There was a time when men and boys wanted to play for the West Indies more than anything else and the thought of money was a poor second. Payment was seen almost as a bonus. The honour (strange word) was to wear the maroon. Today the main consideration is how much am I getting for this tour or that match?

Could Beenhakker change that mind set? I wonder.

There is a supremo in West Indies cricket who seems unable to recognise that if players continue to make the same disastrous mistakes over and over again, they need to be replaced until they correct the mistakes. The talented players retain their places and continue to break our hearts and make West Indies cricket the laughing stock of many and a pitiful sight to many others who remember the majesty that was.

When a business fails, the cleaners and clerks are not the ones held responsible. The CEO?s and the managers are the men making decisions that make the difference. The same is true of West Indies cricket and the men in charge must be held accountable for the sorry state of the game here.

The time for change is now. Change must begin at the top, from the board, to the selectors to the coach and down to the players. A small start has been made with a new president. He must change the complexion of the WICB, the modus operandi of his board, or the decline of West Indies cricket may be terminal.

* In association with the Trinidad Guardian.