Dear Editor,
I read with great interest the release issued by the West Indies senior cricket coach. A number of things were said, and he especially lambasted the batsmen without giving any credit to the two senior players Chris Gayle and Shiv Chanderpaul for their efforts in the first innings by scoring 64 (Gayle) and in the case of the latter, 84 not out when he ran out of support.
I believe the radar has been too long directed on the failing West Indies players; they are just the on field participants of a game that has many facets to it. There are a host of officials like the coach himself, the manager and other functionaries who must play their part in a winning combination; the deterioration of one or the other of West Indies great batsmen cannot only rest on their shoulders.
The coach himself appears to be the nemesis; he publicizes failures at will and interferes with the mental and physiological well-being of players.
Ramaresh Sarwan publicly stated this in one of his interviews and Chris Gayle supported him. Sars never found himself a West Indies player, but subsequent to this he was given a chance to recover by being selected for one-dayers and T20s. This was absolute nonsense since a struggling player should be given the opportunity to play in the longer forms of the game.
I do support Mr Gibson in his decision not to play Chanderpaul in T20s, but I believe he has blundered by ensuring that he does not play one-dayers also; he is still better than many of the tried and failed others.
Okay, then the radar should now be focused on the nemesis himself, and the West Indies Cricket Board must call Mr Gibson into question.
An analysis must now be done on his performance since assuming this prestigious office; he himself must take an inward look and become his own judge and quit now.
Players have been sacked and /or discarded for presumed ineptitude, and what is good for the goose must be good for the gander.
The success of West Indies cricket does not lie only in the hands of the players, but also in the hands of officials and directors; all must be accountable, all must be responsible.
I love WI cricket; we must not allow things to deteriorate further.
Yours faithfully,
Bishop Ivan John