 West Indies’ Alick Athanaze, right, plays a shot on the third day of the first Test against India at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India, on October 4. AP Photo -I have written so many words in the past in this column about the inability of Daren Sammy as a cricket coach that the actual repetition becomes farcical. Sammy believes that he is capable as a coach because he was captain of the WI T20 teams when they won the 2012 and 2016 finals of the World Cup. He didn’t take into consideration that Marlon Samuels’ classical innings was the main architect of the 2012 victory against Sri Lanka, while the actual bludgeoning of England’s Benjamin Stokes’ medium-pace bowling for four consecutive sixes in the final over by Carlos Brathwaite in 2016, won the game for WI. Also, that has nothing to do with coaching. The administration of West Indies cricket is so weak at present that should they continue, it would be the collapse of WI cricket as we have come to know it. The saddest part is that, because the administrators have very little knowledge of the sport, they do not know what structure to put in place for the smooth running of domestic leagues and for the improvement of WI cricketers in every department. Just imagine that although Sammy informed them that he never earned a coaching certificate, these administrators saw nothing wrong with that, believing that he would be a good coach because he won two T20 WC finals as captain. But we, the WI public, have to bear this shameful, regular loss of cricket matches, from Test cricket to limited-overs games, for the main reason that CWI does not know what they’re doing. Aren’t they ashamed? I scrutinised the batting of the team in both innings in the first Test against India and what struck me was how palpably weak the WI batsmen are against top-class bowling, and not any particular type of bowling, fast and slow. In WI’s first innings, when the pitch was fresh with preparation moisture, the Indian fast bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, bowled with pace, accuracy and movement, and our batsmen did not have a clue how to play these deliveries. They were forced into false strokes starting with the opening pair of Tagenarine Chanderpaul and John Campbell.  -Their early dismissals opened up the weak, soft middle order, of which the overrated Brandon King, batting at number four, was all at sea when playing Siraj. Although he played a pleasant drive or two, he never looked like he would stay because, like the rest of the batting, his defence was wanting. He left one alone outside the off-stump, bat held high in the air with his front foot nowhere close to the line of the ball, the ball jagged back and struck his middle stump out of the ground. Then, the best batsman on the team, Shai Hope, in the last over before lunch, when any intelligent batsman would be careful to have lunch while not out and resume refreshed. Hope instead attempted an off-drive to a well-pitched up ball from Kuldeep Yadav, a left-arm, back-of-the-hand spinner, that passed between bat and pad and bowled him. A careless stroke, at that time and score. I have played enough cricket, witnessed numerous games to conclude that these batsmen did not put in the work that international sportsmen do to improve their technique. Do WI cricketers or coaches understand how much work is necessary to be a success at the international level? The batting is unduly weak, and they have themselves to blame. And it’s not for the want of natural ability, because that is present. What is necessary is the application of proper technique to natural ability and that is how batsmen build scores. Left as it is, the batsmen are dragging down the rest of the team. The bowlers and the fielders are losing heart and the will to keep going when they observe how listless and frivolous those who have the obligation to score runs, are performing. Sammy is not capable of being a coach or a selector at international level. How many matches does a team have to lose before the coach and the useless director of cricket, Miles Bascombe, hand in their resignations? Bring back Andre Coley as coach, as he seems to have a good grasp of the game. Retain three knowledgeable selectors for the Test team and two individuals for the two white-ball sides. Ensure a strong chairman. Do not incorporate the captains or coaches as selectors as it could create favouritism, whether intentionally or not.President Shallow should resign for the betterment of WI cricket. A potential collapse of Cricket West Indies - Trinidad and Tobago Newsday |
