Dear Editor,
The management and selectors of the West Indies men and women cricket teams have erred in their decisions on changes of captaincy and in the selection of the teams, especially in recent months. Added to that, the recent series losses and the ill-fated aborted tour to India, as a consequence of which the Board owes India a staggering US$75M because of poor leadership in handling players’ issues, suggests it may be time for the entire management to be replaced by a competent team.
The management changed captains for both the men and women’s teams without a rational explanation. In fact, inconsistent reasoning was presented for the removal of both captains. Those are sufficient grounds to replace management.
For the men’s team, Denesh Ramdin was removed ostensibly because of his “poor batting”, says Clive Lloyd; “We just want Ramdin to perform a little better with the bat”. So Ramdin was removed as captain so he could work on his batting. But the record will show that Ramdin’s batting has improved tremendously over the last couple of years. And he was replaced by Jason Holder who could neither bat nor bowl, nor does he have the experience and leadership skills to inspire a team. Holder sure cannot bat as well as Ramdin. Ramdin’s captaincy record was poor – winning only one of five series and five of 13 matches.
With regard to the women’s team, Captain Merissa Aguilleira was praised for her leadership qualities for “helping to establish the side as one of [the] most competitive in the world”. In the 16 series she captained, she won 9, lost 5 and drew 2.
Lloyd said she did “a pretty good job, but we feel the time is right for a new leader”, adding he “hopes that her replacement will bring new energy to the team”. So she was replaced so that someone with less ability could energize the team. That move makes no sense. How replacing a winning leader could “bring new energy” is beyond comprehension. Replacing a winning leader hasn’t been a practiced since Rohan Kanhai was removed in 1974 or Kalicharran in 1979.
In short, two good captains were replaced and the teams put into the hands of less experienced players following inconsistent reasoning. In the case of Ramdin, the focus was on his batting as opposed to pointing directly to his poor win/loss record.
In the case of Aguilleira the focus was on praising her leadership but still removing her from the leadership; her batting was poor. Aguilleira should improve on her batting and Ramdin needs to improve on his captaincy.
Leadership must be based solely on achievement not on personality or other factors. Batting performance should not be confused with leadership. If the captains are removed because they cannot be depended on to bat, then the management should say so and not give conflicting reasons.
There is need for improvement in the performance of both teams. And the goal should be on performance, especially in the case of the men’s team which has had a losing culture over the last decade. The team needs to change towards a winning culture. The players need to adjust to a new dawn of winning.
On management matters, people I spoke with since May are disappointed in the management’s decision to drop Shivnarine Chanderpaul from the batting line up. It was generally felt that had he been included in the last two home series, West Indies would have done much better rather than losing badly the way they did. Shiv is viewed as the backbone of the batting line-up, and cricket followers around the globe love to watch him bat. Lloyd said Tiger was dropped because of his poor scores in earlier series. Yet his average scores were better than those who were selected – another inconsistent management decision, and as it was the entire team failed to perform. Fans say they miss the opportunity to see Shiv save or rescue the Windies as he often did in so many matches. He was always depended upon to turn around the fortunes of the team. He should have been recalled for the tour to Sri Lanka and been given a proper send-off.
The performance of the men’s team in the upcoming series in Sri Lanka and Australia will provide a basis on which to assess the selectors’ decisions on overall management, on leadership changes and on leaving out the Tiger.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram
