Captains of industry and sports must lead with great energy, guile and foresight, requisitioning useful instruments while planning results, also surrounding themselves with personnel who should positively effect that hoped-for successful future! Simple, really!
Why then, in present West Indies cricket, are none of our teams’ captains allowed votes in selecting players that they will lead, as was present in the past, while coaches do have that luxury?
To quote Pope Francis: “Power is a fleeting thing; here today, gone tomorrow. It is important to do ‘good’ with that power; to serve in the humblest of ways!”
The great irony here is that present chief WI selector Clive Lloyd, while leading an acclaimed cricket team, thankfully including yours truly, demanded that vote: “I am given this task of leading WI teams. Therefore I must have my vote as to whom I trust to be out there with me. Ultimately, I am responsible for producing good performances from those players on the field.”
Suspended West Indies cricket coach Phil Simmons was due to meet with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) today in Antigua to answer to them over his public outburst over the exclusion of Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo but the meeting will not come off as planned.
Guardian Media understands that Simmons has asked for some time before facing the WICB appointed Human Resource committee. Simmons was suspended last Monday after he alleged that there was “outside interference” in the selection process when it came to Bravo and Pollard.
Simmons, who is currently in England, made the comments at the end of the West Indies cricket team camp in Barbados last week. He said that “outside interference” in the selection process seems to have kept out the duo because he and chairman of selectors Clive Lloyd both wanted the two Red Force players back into the One Day International (ODI) team for the series of Sri Lanka. He added that Lloyd and himself were outvoted 3-2 by the other selectors, Courtney Walsh, Courtney Browne and Eldine Baptiste.
ANDY ROBERTS posed a particularly pertinent question in the aftermath of Phil Simmons’ suspension as West Indies coach. Why the rush to install Eldine Baptiste as interim coach for the tour of Sri Lanka? Roberts wanted to know.
The pioneer of Clive Lloyd’s fast bowling arsenal in the late 1970s had himself been sacked as coach after a year, following the West Indies stunning loss to Kenya in the the 1996 World Cup. He was replaced by Lloyd. His comment at the time is apt now. “A lot of these decisions are taken by people who do not really understand cricket,” he said. “It’s one thing to read about cricket, it’s another thing to understand it.” The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) stated that the responsibilities of the head coach would pass to Baptiste “until the matter is cleared up”. It noted that he was already assigned to Sri Lanka as the selector-on-tour, hinting that it was a money-saving arrangement. Yet Stuart Williams, the assistant coach, is also there. He filled in as head coach for the tour of South Africa and the World Cup following the sacking of Ottis Gibson just over a year ago while the WICB waited for Simmons’ availability at the end of his eight highly acclaimed years with Ireland. -See more at nationnews
LEEWARD Islands wicketkeeper/batsman Devon Thomas is set to play for St Thomas CA in the ongoing Jamaica Cricket Association 50-over competition.
St Thomas CA President Dennis Gordon confirmed that the out-of-favour West Indies player is registered and has made himself available for Sunday's fifth-round encounter against visitors Kensington CC at Good Year Oval.
"I can confirm that he arrives here tomorrow [Friday] and he will be suited up on Sunday," Gordon said.
He said the move was initiated by St Thomas skipper Carlton Baugh, another wicketkeeper/batsman with experience playing for the senior West Indies team.
ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) today paid tribute to Steve Camacho, the former Manager of the West Indies Team and Chief Executive Officer of the WICB, who died on Friday night in Antigua. He was also an outstanding batsman and played for Guyana in the Shell Shield and West Indies at the international level.
Camacho was 69 at the time of his passing.
George Stephen Camacho was born on October 12, 1945 in British Guiana and played club cricket at the historic Georgetown Cricket Club. He went on to play 76 first-class matches as a right-handed top order batsman, scoring 4,079 runs including seven centuries and 24 half centuries.
In an 11-Test career between 1968 and 1971, Camacho scored 640 runs, and played in several outstanding West Indies teams alongside Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Wes Hall, Clive Lloyd, Lance Gibbs, Roy Fredericks and Rohan Kanhai.
He became the 126th capped West Indies Test cricket when he debuted against England at Queen’s Park Oval in 1969. He also captained the West Indies President’s XI against touring teams.
