Operations Manager of the Guyana Amazon Warriors’ Omar Khan has been at the helm of the four-time runners up unit for the last six editions of the Caribbean Premier League.
While reaching the final on four occasions is somewhat of an achievement, the fact that the Amazon Warriors are perennial bridesmaids is cause for some concern.
The Amazon Warriors have earned themselves the title of perennial chokers, defying the odds on numerous occasions to continuously find a way to end up on the losing end of the CPL final.
They have made changes to players and coach but one position remains constant and that is the post of Operations Manager.
While the Warriors have utilized the services of former West Indies captain, Carl Hooper (2015), former West Indies coach, Roger Harper (2013, 2014, 2016, and 2017) and now Johan Botha (2018) as Head Coach the results remain the same with all three unable to bring home the trophy.
Also, players such as Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dinesh Ramdin, Martin Guptill, Shoaib Malik, Rayad Emrit and Chris Green have all had a taste of the on field leadership role, again with the end result being the same.
Clearly it would seem impossible to lose in four finals even as the last final saw them losing despite posting their highest total. They also lost chasing 116 in 15.5 overs as was the case against Barbados in 2015.
Poor decisions?
It remains strange that despite the shake up in the coaching and captaincy departments, the team has been saddled consistently with Khan.
Looking at the just-concluded season, one has to ask whether given his performance, Rayad Emrit was worth the price he was bought for.
Emrit for bowlers with more than 10 overs, took only eight wickets for 394 runs. He also contributed 42 from the six times he batted.
Chadwick Walton, with an average of 15 and a strike rate of 118, rather than being dropped, was dropped down the order, a decision which failed to pay off.
Jason Mohammed (11 games, 198 runs, Strike rate 116) and Cameron Delport (eight games, 126 runs, Strike Rate 112) have both been poor this season, which resulted in the team being heavily dependent on Shimron Hetmyer who scored 440 runs with a strike rate of 148. The closest batsman to him was Luke Ronchi with 243 runs, striking at 125 while Sherfane Rutherford played only eight games and is the fourth highest run-getter with a strike rate of 142.
With the ball, Romario Shepherd has had the privilege of playing only three matches having been available throughout the tournament and in all of his matches has made a significant contribution towards the team even with the bat.
Inexperience?
With Shoaib Malik departing mid-tournament, Emrit was appointed captain having done the same in previous tournaments, but his form lead him to sit out a match and the captaincy falling to Chris Green who, at 24, played less than two dozen matches.
Time for new ideas
Operations Manager Khan must share some of the bale for the failure of the Amazon Warriors to win the title.
Khan has played his part in the team reaching four finals in six years but he has had a long run and it is now time for a new person with new ideas.
A complete overhaul of the Amazon Warriors set up beginning with the removal of the Operations Manager and the appointment of someone who can bring a new vision, and new players to the side and hopefully change the fortunes of the perennial chokers, is a must.
Unless of course the Amazon Warriors want to be bridesmaids again in the 2019 tournament.
