Dear Editor,
Former West Indies captain, Clive Lloyd is peeved with the performance and attitude of our current cricketers. He said in Barbados recently that our players must reconnect themselves to the improvement of the game.
The 69-year-old Lloyd who is undoubtedly the most successful cricket captain in the history of the game emphasized that our players must have passion for the game and not money. He observed that some of the players do not perform in the manner in which they should, pointing out that there are far too many injuries. He wondered why young players in their early twenties should suffer from constant injuries, and he emphasized the importance of fitness.
I wonder why these players are not up to speed when they now have a physiotherapist, strength and conditioning coordinator and massage therapist, apart from the head coach and three assistant coaches plus team operations manager in the person of a former West Indies captain, Richie Richardson. I seem to recall that there were minimal fitness problems in the glory days.
Clive, a Guyanese, who played 110 Test matches and captained 27 of them in a succession – a world record – is not too happy about the manner in which the teams are selected. He did not however comment on the fact that the leading batsman in the West Indies, Shivnarine Chanderpaul is not included in the squad to oppose England in the 50 overs tournament, and moreso no Guyanese is in the squad.
He did say that the West indies Cricket Board should involve former cricketers as coaches or advisors, and mentioned the names of Sir Vivian Richards, Courtney Walsh, Curtly Ambrose, Desmond Haynes and Gordon Greenidge.
Meanwhile the Antigua and Barbuda Government is honouring three former Test players with knighthood. They are Andy Roberts, the first Antiguan to play Test cricket in 1974, another speedster, Curtly Ambrose, and batsman, Richie Richardson, former West Indies captain. The master blaster, Viv Richards was knighted several years ago by Her Majesty the Queen.
Yours faithfully,
Oscar Ramjeet
