BASSETERRE, St Kitts, CMC – Director of Cricket, Jimmy Adams, believes initial signs point to Australian Stuart Law enjoying a successful tenure as West Indies head coach but believes there will be no quick fixes for transforming West Indies into a world class side.
The 49-year-old Jamaican said although he was yet to communicate extensively with Law, the former Bangladesh coach was already making the right overtures with the team which would be “critical” for the future.
“What little I know of him I think he is a fairly honest bloke and at the end of the day that’s a big starting point for me,” the former Test captain said in a wide-ranging interview here. “I think he’s very down to earth in his views on the game, on people and if the early signs are an indication, he’s on his way to building a pretty strong relationship with the lads which is critical.”
Both Adams and Law were recent high-level appointments by the West Indies Cricket Board, with Adams taking up his role in mid-January and Law starting his tenure just under two weeks ago.
The two are expected to work closely together in reviving the fortunes of the struggling international men’s side and Adams said they would bring an existing relationship to the new challenge.
“We’ve come across each other going back many years. We both played in the first Youth World Cup in 1988 in Australia and the relationship kind of started from there,” Adams said.
“We played against each other at international level as well so there’s a prior history, it might not be a big one but we have both had conversations over the years.”
Both men enter West Indies cricket at a difficult moment in its history. While the men’s side are reigning Twenty20 World champions, their performances in Test and One-Day Internationals have been less than flattering.
At current, they languish at number eight in the Test rankings, 23 ratings points behind seventh placed Sri Lanka. In their last 18 Tests inside the last two years, West Indies have won just twice.
They have fared little better in ODIs where they are ranked ninth in the tables, even behind minnows Bangladesh. Their poor ranking led to them missing out on this year’s ICC Champions Trophy in England.
Adams conceded the situation was a grave one and said any success would likely be over the long term.
“I am pretty realistic about where we are at. I think the starting point in anything is to be very clear and honest about where we are at in a lot of areas cricket-related,” he pointed out.
“I don’t know if I see my role as turning anything around. There are a lot or processes that need tidying up in our cricket and it’s not going to be an overnight job. I might not live to see the promised land but I can certainly take the first step in the right direction.”
Adams, who led West Indies in 15 of his 54 Tests, said there were signs of hope especially among the young crop of players.
“Standards aren’t good enough across the board and it’s reflected in the cricket that we play,” he noted.
“But for me, we’ve got raw material, we’ve got good young players. What we need is a system that can take this raw talent and convert it into an international product that is world class.