Dear Editor,
With a broken heart, I write this letter minutes after the Aussies whitewashed the Windies in the ODIs. Like many Windies fans, I have no other team that my loyalty permits me to support. I don’t reside in the US and as such have no affinity for the NY Lakers, Miami Heat, Houston Rockets or other sports teams there. I am an avid cricket fan, as are my father and my 95-year-old grandmother.
Though cricket is a much loved sport in the region, it is now played professionally. The players are not playing ‘for sport,’ though at times it certainly appears that way, seeing Fletcher stumped, looking as though he really didn’t feel like working today.
The commentators have described Fletcher’s performance and attitude today as ‘relaxed’ (Tony Cozier) and ‘lackadaisical’ (Ian Bishop), like so many of his colleagues. One wonders whet-her the Windies players are serious and committed to their job. Is the morale of the team at an all-time low?
The region has a number of successful corporate giants, such as Ansa McAl, Banks Breweries and Cable and Wireless, and I’m sure if you speak with their CEOs they will all admit a bumpy road somewhere on the journey, but it is their resoluteness that has propelled them to their leading positions now.
Is it the management of Windies cricket that is the problem?
What are the major differences between the world champions and us?
Australia, is an example of a team with a ‘purpose.’ They have not always been the world champions. After Ian Chappell’s glory days, Australia had a period of much defeat, similar to the Windies position now.
However, after winning the Ashes in 1989, things got a whole lot better.
The Australian Cricket Board’s (ACB) mission statement is, ‘To defend and promote the values of the great game of cricket, ensure that Australian teams excel on the field, and be a formidable and successful competitor in the sport and entertainment industries.’
The West Indies Cricket Board’s mission statement is, ‘To develop and promote West Indies cricket for the benefit and enjoyment of the West Indian people, its clients and other stakeholders by procuring a consistently high-quality, successful and international West Indian product.’ Is the WICB delivering as it should?
Undoubtedly, Australia is the most competitive team in international cricket and one remembers Steve Waugh’s famous comment to South African Herschelle Gibbs when he dropped Waugh in a qualifying game, “Son, you just dropped the World Cup.” So many times in this series, the commentators have referred to a team “accustomed to winning.” Australia is a team that plays to win every game, even with the series carefully tucked away after the 3rd ODI.
I’ve always admired Glenn McGrath, and his team spirit was evident when he won Man of the Match against England in the Ashes when he said he could not have done it without Jason Gillespie. The Australians usually deflect credit on winning and equally take blame on defeat.
I must say that I’ve seen that in Windies cricket, as recently as a couple of days ago when Chris Gayle after the 4th ODI took blame for losing that game.
The Windies team is often criticized at home for being too egotistical. Shivarine Chanderpaul is constantly described as ‘selfish’ (though one wonders whether more selfish players might mean success). The Windies have always had superstars on their team; Brian Lara stands out and deservedly so.
Australia appears to promote more of a team spirit and individual players don’t rise to superstar fame. An easy example is Mark Taylor declaring against Pakistan on 334, with the world record of 375 at his reach.
His explanation – declaring then would have given Australia the best chance of winning that match.
Steve Waugh is quoted as saying that his focus was on minimizing individual stardom, thereby giving every single player the feeling that it is his responsibility to win the game for his team.
Stick-to-itiveness – Australia has stuck with players, unlike the Windies where players are in and out of the side. The Australian Board persevered with Border through his many years without success, as well as Taylor when he went through a bad patch.
West Indies fans are impatient and want immediate results, and it appears that the selectors in their quest to please sometimes bow to the pressure with disastrous results. Maybe we can learn some lessons from the Mighty Aussies.
John Dyson, the Windies coach commented on the large pool of players from which the Australian team is selected, compared to the very small pool here. In this Digicel series, Australia clearly has a rotational policy and a number of new players were brought in for the ODIs. This helps players stay fresh and ensures that no one is indispensable which obviously comes in handy if there are injured players.
The Australian Cricket Board is in the forefront of the new face of cricket in business terms. They have a competitive advantage as other teams play catch-up. Their Cricket Academy was formed in 1987 and its graduates read like a Who’s Who of international cricket, including, Brett Lee, Shane Warne, Ricky Ponting and Andrew Symonds, and this is clearly an investment in Australia’s cricketing future.
Commitment to cricket is obviously the focus of the Australian board and commitment and purpose are usually hallmarks of solid and successful businesses, just ask Bill Gates.
Though the WICB President Julian Hunte has threatened the current Windies team to improve or risk being relegated to a “special category with the other two lowest ranked teams, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe,” I am not sure that this is the solution to the problem. There must be investment in cricket and not only from a financial standpoint, but in all aspects, particularly its human resource management.
The private sector must be called upon to throw its support in terms of its experience with team-building, innovation and commitment to a cause.
Yours faithfully,
Dawn A Holder