Dear Editor,
I am sure that Mr Cameron, who has a huge ego and would like to be as well known as any political leader, but without the guts to run for political office, will begin the defence of the WICB by saying that if bowlers cannot bowl good line and length at critical times and try to hit sixes when fours can be almost as effective and much safer, and cannot run out batsmen when three wickets are staring at them, the quality of governance makes no difference.
That is one of the reasons I am worried that the case against the WICB appears to lay too much emphasis on the team’s losing record, which is, in a sense, a separate matter. I trust the eminent people who have thought and written about the governance issue, and I leave that matter entirely in their hands.
I am concerned primarily about making the best of the available cricket talent in the men`s game right now. That may be for an obviously selfish reason that I do not feel the need to identify.
My belief is that important West Indian cricket people waste their time and energy complaining about the emergence of twenty over cricket, which came into being for reasons similar to those that made for the emergence of the fast food industry. Fortunately, the similarity ends there, in that this form of cricket does not create health challenges. They also waste even more time complaining about another phenomenon, the increased income-earning opportunities for their cricketers, that is, of course, associated with the international twenty over cricket. They may just as well worry about rain.
The main psychological problem facing West Indies cricket today is the inability of most West Indian cricket people to recognize that the past is prologue. It is not unlike the belief widespread among the English that they are still a major world power.
West Indian cricket officials must recognize that the key to producing a competitive team is preparation. That requires the careful assessment of the comparatively limited availability of talented cricketers, the recognition of their unique value, and a determination to cherish them, and to hone their skills by the use of modern methods of coaching, and physical and mental gymnastics.
Perhaps the most noticeable feature of West Indies cricket today is its inconsistency, and what appears to be the tendency of the players to crumble in psychologically stressful situations. I saw the pain that Jonathan Carter endured batting in the second recent ODI in Sri Lanka, and I would have comforted him if I could have.
There is clearly in the West Indies a lack of appreciation of the value of coaching. There have been longer periods without a head coach than in any other major country, and the board insists on appointing consultants and acting coaches instead of coaches. Contrary to the most glaring evidence they insist, as Gayle suggested years ago, that cricket preparation is all about running more laps, and that mental preparation is for sissies. Time and again I have read comments from fans who ridicule the use of sports psychologists by suggesting that the latter cannot bat or bowl for the players.
I have heard it said on more than one occasion that the most intense preparation ever done by a modern West Indian team was that for the twenty million dollars Stanford one-off match, handily won by the West Indies. The head coach who prepared the team for that game was the current interim coach, who may well owe his current position partly to that game. He had, I understand, ample time and resources. I also heard, sadly, that Xavier Marshall lost an opportunity to become a millionaire during those preparations because of allegations of possession of marijuana. That, in my view, if correct, speaks to both the issue of appreciation of the value of talent, and the unfortunate tendency to over punish.
So, I want to urge the Caricom leaders to remember that the next or last step, for the short run, and also for the long run, is even more important than the first. It must focus on the players, who must be as well prepared as the best teams, and must be involved in the process of revamping the game in the region.
One final suggestion that is in the nature of an innovation, for which the West Indies, with its storied history should not hesitate to make claim. It is to require the head coach to be more like his counterpart in North American professional sport, who effectively manages his team throughout the game.
I know it is not done, but I am sure it can be done. Cricket, because of its slow pace, and the availability of information banks on all international players, is ideal for that approach.
Yours faithfully,
Romain Pitt
