Wed, Aug 11, '04 by PAUL BREWER AND PHIL AUSTIN
With the third England v West Indies test nearing, the question
marks hanging over Brian Lara's captaincy will almost certainly be
redrawn. Whether this is the wise thing to do is another
matter.
Outsiders should often bear in mind that, when criticizing West
Indies' cricket, this is not a cricket board representing a single
nation, but one that watches over cricket activities in several
different countries. In these circumstances, the kind of
intense regional feeling one can readily see elsewhere in world
cricketing bodies has extra weight that adds another level to the
kind of behind-the-scenes bickering that pops up in the media for
us outsiders to view, as it were, 'through a glass darkly'.
Wed, Aug 11, '04
After a teleconference Wednesday, the West Indies Cricket Board
(WICB) has retained Brian Lara as captain for next month's ICC
Champions Trophy tournament in England.
The surprise inclusion of Courtney Browne in the squad fuelled
speculation that the Barbadian wicket-keeper would assume the
captaincy but the WICB opted to retain the left-handed Lara.
Ramnaresh Sarwan retains the vice-captaincy.
Tue, Aug 10, '04
Barbados wicket-keeper Courtney Browne, who last represented the
West Indies in 2001, has won a recall for the ICC Champions Trophy
ODI tournament.
Browne, who averages 12.46 in 28 ODIs for the West Indies,
replaces Ridley Jacobs in a move that signals a rapid departure
from the previous policy of selecting young, untested players. A
captain was not named and the WICB plans to hold a teleconference
on Thursday to ratify the selectors' recommendation, a strong hint
that Browne may replace Brian Lara as captain.
Tue, Aug 10, '04
Long-standing opener Sherwin Campbell and West Indies fast
bowler Corey Collymore have been included in a Barbados training
squad to prepare for this year's West Indies domestic limited-overs
competition.
A communication mix-up had excluded both Campbell and Collymore
from the 24-man squad but officials from the Barbados Cricket
Association (BCA) later confirmed that the two were part of
Barbados' plans for the competition that has been revamped and will
be played on a two-phase, round robin basis.
Tue, Aug 10, '04
Ramnaresh Sarwan is in no rush to take over the captaincy of the
West Indies team.
Addressing the ongoing discussion about whether Brian Lara
should relinquish the West Indies captaincy, Sarwan said: "When the
time comes it will be right, I don't want to rush it. I feel Brian
has tried to guide me along the right way and when the opportunity
comes I hope I will put it to use."