It’s not one or two, but a multitude of reasons why Phil Simmons should be relieved of his misery and be replaced at the helm of the West Indies team.
Being humiliated is unacceptable at any level, but when it is inflicted at home by a team not long out of the minnows category, it’s ten times worse.
And from look of things Bangladesh is set to make it a clean whitewash over West Indies by virtue of the massive nine- and six-wicket triumphs in the first two games with one more to go in an ODI series to forget for the homesters.
As it is the buck has to stop some place and the penny has to drop sometime and if Simmons is man enough, he should throw in the towel right after this series
Yes, we have substandard pitches for the most part, and just as bad domestic structures in the islands and Guyana, yet you would expect better, primarily from the team’s batsmen.
It is not only now this series, but as was the case against Pakistan and South Africa and New Zealand, also in the T20 World Cup when West Indies were badly beaten, and add the loss to Ireland, not in Dublin, but the region, in the last two years, West Indies batting remains woeful against any type of good bowling in helpful conditions, be it spin or pace.
Under Simmons’ direction the players are stuck in a rut of poor technique, thoughtless shot selection and limited basic game awareness.
And from all appearances there’s no end in sight.
You can blame subpar coaching and facilities in the territories that has resulted in players arriving at international level ill-equipped, all you want, but after nearly three years in his second stint after one in his first, surely it is time enough for the head coach to have made a difference.
Shai Hope, Shamar Brooks and Brandon King et al should be better at not playing across the line as well as Nicolas Pooran being more astute in choosing his shots. If it’s not that, the mostly bungled attempts at footwork forward and backward, make our batsmen sitting ducks to the likes Mehidy Miraz and any other above-average spinner.
The same is so for the faster stuff as Rabada and Nortje and Wagner and crew have proven.
It’s an indictment on the coach when he specialized in batting in his playing career on top of hiring a specialist assistant, to have his team performing as badly as the current Men in Maroon.
The problems smack of lack of intense drills in requisite areas, playing straight as opposed to across the line and proper footwork in offence and defence.
Less problematic is the Windies bowlers who are often demoralized and lose effectiveness after having to defend meagre targets through sloppy batting.
Simmons has been accused of lacklustre training sessions from official journalistic sources and fans alike, which probably explains the stagnation in progress.
One of the hallmarks of the world conquering teams of the 1970s and 80s was the intensity of net sessions when it was like fighting for the Test and ODI championships of the world every time Clive Lloyd’s men squared up against each other.
These days it seems hell would have to freeze over to see Alzarri Joseph peppering Kraigg Braithwaite or Pooran with bouncers at practice.
It hasn’t been total doomsday though for the Trinidadian head coach and staff as the embarrassing losses have been interspersed with the Test wins over England and Bangladesh (twice) and that T20 triumph over Australia.
Those successes this year and last year will not have asterisks against them in the records but England and Australia were not full-strength teams then. Bangladesh is notably soft in Tests as the records will show the country’s Test and ODI teams are worlds apart in quality.
It explains why their 10 -match winning streak against the hosts doesn’t seem likely to be snapped anytime soon even if they’re away from the sub-continent while at the same time posting a fifth straight ODI series triumph.
India is up next against the Maroon Men and fans can be advised to expect more of the same hurt even if the world’s second ranked ODI team will be without four of their top headline makers.
That is unless Cricket West Indies takes a courageous stand and replaces the current coaching team like the gamble England recently made and which paid dividends in the team’s just concluded Test encounters with New Zealand and India.
Brian Lara might not be a Brendon McCullum, but he was one of the game’s greatest batting talents and surely he couldn’t be worse if given a shot with the batsmen.
Up until now ex captain Keiron Pollard made his exit amidst the failures as did Roger Harper as chief selector. Likewise Phil Simmons should fall on his sword.
