Only if you look closely - very closely - and see the greying
strands of Michael Hall's hair, would you surmise that he is
probably not in his mid 20's as you may have thought at first
glance. The tall Hall sports a fit physique from years of playing
football and other sports and exudes youthfulness, helped no doubt
by his positive outlook on life in general.
That life he described as somewhat 'chequered' and I was
pre-warned that the personal aspects were off-limits.
West Indies team manager Tony Howard will serve as a member of
the selection panel on the current tour of England.
In what amounts to a major departure from the previous policy
where the manager was not allowed to participate in "cricket
matters," Howard will join head coach Gus Logie, captain Brian Lara
and vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan on the team selection
committee.
When the West Indies team arrived in England earlier this month,
the reception was like a hard slap in the face.
For starters, no one from the England and Wales Cricket Board
(ECB) was on hand to receive the team at the airport. Players were
forced to individually clear immigration and customs, before
securing and transporting all their own luggage.
Back in 1999, when Clive Lloyd was manager of the West Indies
team, I interviewed him on a range of topics related to cricket
administration in the region. Re-reading that interview can be an
eerie experience.
In this Q&A, which CaribbeanCricket.com is
republishing in its entirety, Lloyd talks about his frustrations
with the West Indies Cricket Board, the lack of proper training
facilities, Brian Lara's captaincy and the future of West Indies
cricket. He could have been talking today...
The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is making it clear that the
decision to remove Sir Viv Richards from the team selection
panel was made because of conflict of interest issues.
In an unusual ten-point note released to the media on Tuesday,
the board said Richards made himself available for reappointment as
a selector even though he had taken a job to do commentary for the
BBC. The WICB's position differs sharply from Richards' own
contention that he resigned
from the selection panel.
