Dear Editor,
In his July 5 article ‘WI still seeking the fast track to success,’ Tony Cozier reported that “WICB directors charged the cricket committee to have another go at coming up with suggestions of how to prioritize development of fast bowlers in the region and for the West Indies team, recognizing that the majority of the overs in regional tournaments are bowled by spinners and is impacting negatively on the production of fast bowlers for the West Indies team.”
Cozier discussed the fast bowling issue mainly in terms of what fast bowling great Andy Roberts had said recently about the hard work necessary for success in that area of the game, and what another great fast bowler Michael Holding, observed about the relative lack of pacey and bouncy wickets in the region, a circumstance that discourages fast bowling. He ended the article by quoting the great Wesley Hall, who predated Roberts and Holding as follows: “If you run five miles in the morning and five in the evening, then you start doing sprints, your stamina gets right for match day. It is the same way you train a race horse.”
Hall had lost his place in the Test team for a short time. Cozier continued the story in these words: “Hall was back a year and a half later for the tour of India and Pakistan, within a year developing into a thoroughbred fast bowler who gathered 192 wickets in 48 tests.”
This is Cozier’s peroration: “The search for the thoroughbred has already been long and futile. It is not a reason to stop trying.”
It occurred to me on the basis of limited anecdotal evidence that the relative lack of high quality spin bowlers during the era the fast men ruled the roost was not a subject that received much attention. It is also noticeable that in discussions about the fitness of West Indian cricketers, the availability of objective fitness standards in the modern era never seems to engage anyone’s attention, although the strength coach is from a country that is notorious for its emphasis on science: Cuba.
Most troubling, however, is the language used frequently in discussions about the modern West Indian player, who plays mainly on losing teams. Not long ago, a leading West Indian academic, in a speech that he characterised as an examination of leadership models, felt comfortable to compare Chris Gayle, the Jamaican stalwart batsman, with Dudus, a notorious Jamaican criminal, and directed his reluctant apology to Jamaicans only.
The adjectives lazy, unfit, disloyal and greedy have become standard fare in the demonization of those players. As noted above, Cozier quoted Hall’s use of the words “thoroughbred” and himself reused “thoroughbred” in his discussion of the continuing search for fast bowlers.
With due respect, I believe the routine use of such language is unbecoming. What is more, conjuring up the images of animals and criminals and the adjectives noted earlier when thinking of your cricketers makes it more difficult to entertain the thought of helping struggling players, most of whom have technical deficiencies, and receive less support than cricketers from the countries rated above them.
With Chanderpaul out of the picture, and Sarwan prematurely retired, Gayle, Samuels and Darren Bravo are the only active West Indian batsmen with more than five Test hundreds. Kraigg Brathwaite has four, Ramdin four, and the recently ‘force-retired’ Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Powell have three each.
Gayle has severe back issues and Samuels has had a knee problem from the start of his career. Neither Gayle nor Samuels has more than about three years left in Test cricket.
Darren Bravo is young enough and talented enough to become a top class batsman, Kraigg Brathwaite has the temperament, and Blackwood the talent, to reach that level. All these players, including Gayle and Samuels, together with Deonarine and Simmons, have technical and mental issues, clearly identifiable, that can be ameliorated.
Roach, Taylor and Rampaul are quality fast bowlers. Taylor can be a much better lower order batsman than his record shows. He has a century in New Zealand to his credit.
Gabriel is among the faster bowlers in the game today. Cotterel, Beaton and Johnson are not yet ready to be discarded. It is not likely that exceptional, fast men are playing club cricket in remote, inaccessible areas, in these small, Caribbean territories (Guyana being an exception).
Holder, Russell, Dwayne Bravo, Carlos Brathwaite, Pollard and the ‘force-retired’ Sammy are all batting and bowling all-rounders with the skills, that if properly honed, can make them effective Test cricketers. Indeed, Dwayne Bravo is considered by foreign cricket people as one of the shrewdest of medium pace bowlers. One does not have to be an expert analyst to recognize the special talents of Holder, Russell and Pollard.
In the spin department Benn and Nikita Miller may be past their best, but Bishoo, Narine, Permaul and Shillingford have all shown they are better than average bowlers.
It is not just about finding new fast bowlers. It is more important to help all the talented players sharpen their skills in the kind of environment that is taken for granted in leading cricket countries where the causes of slumps or long periods of decline are not routinely attributed to character flaws in their players. That kind of civilized approach, that desire to help, is not likely to obtain if in thinking about the players such images as “horses” and “criminals” and “lazy” keep popping up in the minds of those responsible for the development of West Indies cricket.
Yours faithfully,
Romain Pitt
