“Captains ahoy! The story of recent West Indies team captaincy”

Dec 05, 2010 Sports

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by Colin E. H. Croft
It has been suggested that ‘the captaincy of the West Indies cricket team is a poisoned chalice.’  That might be so, but how did we get to where we are now in captaincy?
With Brain Lara’s recent relevant comments that ‘a captain is as good as his players’ – he certainly should know – maybe we can get to the root of this.  BTW, I believe that a Test captain is much, much more than just the sum of the players he leads.
Results notwithstanding, the one thing that leaders, in sport, politics or business must do is to ensure that every subordinate improves in every way during their tenure.  Given the plethora of West Indies captains in especially the last 15 years, few have come up to that!
Clive Lloyd and Viv Richards were consecutive captains, highly successful too, for a period of 17 years, from 1974/5 to 1991!  What exactly is wrong with this picture now?
Simply, the West Indies cricket team captain is the region’s most prominent ambassador.
Most people around the world do not know who the Prime Minister of St. Lucia is.  Indeed, disappointingly, but true, most Caribbean people do not know that either.  Worldwide, many do not even know that there is a country called St. Lucia, much less to know where it is and who its leader is!
Meanwhile, I am doubly sure that more than one-third of the world’s population; 2.5 billion or so people; know that St. Lucian Darren Sammy is now West Indies captain.
Conversely, some of the Caribbean’s pompous, arrogant political leaders will never recognize how utterly insignificant they really are in the greater run of things world-wide, despite their self-largesse, in self-imposed bubbles, with those fawning ‘yes-men’ serfs around.  Their non-importance is really so palpable, it is unbelievable!
With so many recent takers, it was as if West Indies captaincy was just being given based on experience, without any real knowledge of leadership.  Some might have even aided, inadvertently, the very destruction of our cricket with their efforts.
Noting dispatches from around the world since Darren Sammy’s selection as WI captain, the general feeling is that this is the 1st time in any extended memory that West Indies is being led by a player who cannot, naturally, easily, make that very team.  I cannot remember any player being made captain in my lifetime who was not a worthy player!
We in the Caribbean at least expect that our WI team captain regularly performs well enough to command a place in the team, regardless of players selected around him.
West Indies cricket is not English cricket.  Except for Michael Brearley’s successful English captaincy in the 1980’s, a one-off situation just to beat Australia – supposedly more with psychology than his own practical ability – ‘Do as I say; do not worry about what, or how, I do’, does not work for West Indies cricket.  We need real substance here!
It should also be noted that the start of the indignant fall of West Indies cricket – Australia beating us here in 1995 – did not happen just because players were leaving because of age and longevity; a removal of prolonged excellence.  That fall coincided with other meaningful words – greed, selfishness, self-emoluments, stupidity, looking out for No. 1!
Let us back-tract 35 years.  Clive “Super Cat” Lloyd was made captain in 1974/75, based on hope and vision, but with just ‘average-to-good’ personal contributions.  With captaincy, Lloyd’s batting was so reliable, it became ‘better-than-good’.”  Highly successful, because of the teams that he had, Lloyd demitted “Test” office in 1985/6.
(Sir) Vivian “Smoking Joe” Richards followed.  By the time he quit internationals in 1991, the mature team that he had inherited from Lloyd had beat all comers.  “Uncle Smokie” became the only West Indies captain never to have lost a Test series.  He was always awesome, but never let leadership affect his skills, purpose or desire!
But then, out of the blue, West Indies cricket started auto-cannibalism – that special art of eating one’s self.  1991 started a captaincy avalanche that we still feel today.
There was great discontent in many places when the very experienced Desmond Haynes was not given permanent captaincy, even though he did captain a few tours.  Instead, the less experienced Ritchie Richardson emerged from Sir Viv’s shadow to lead the team!
The infighting in West Indies became so acute that by 1996, Richardson was a fully spent and blown force, with several very senior players saying, to his face, that ‘your captaincy is over!’  The very gentile “Richie Rich’ took months to recuperate from that!
Further mistakes confounded.  Courtney Walsh replaced Richardson.  While always an excellent bowler, quite determined and a tremendous servant to our cricket, many still wonder what qualifications to be captain had he, except his longevity in the team, and that the Presidency of West Indies cricket then was also Jamaican.  Worse was to come.
Less than two years later; 1998; Brian Lara, more from his country’s lobbying because of his excellent individual batting than the player himself, became captain.
I said then, and will die believing that, brilliant batsman that he has always been, Lara would have had very much better service as captain, had he been made team leader two years later, having acquired the requisite experiences by then.
He was not yet ready when made captain, but had been ‘pushed,’ much too early, into that position.  He started well against England, but eventually, the experiment backfired!
That started a real comedy of sad, mindless errors.  In 2000, Jimmy Adams assumed the captaincy.  That made no sense at all, as Lara had the opportunity, with some success, to try to build the team in his image.  In my opinion, Adams was the most defensive, unimaginative captain West Indies has had in my lifetime, a further nail in our ambitions.
Adams’ team was shellacked in Australia at 2000-end, so Carl Hooper assumed the captaincy.  He was quite uneasy, and his confidence suffered badly, especially with the continued comparison of his batsmanship with Lara’s.
Thence followed a most bewildering sequence.
Lara returned to captain in 2001, to have a 2nd bite.  Then, Hooper was made captain again, for Sharjah, and then, in 2002, two full tours against India.
By 2003, Lara was captain again, for tours by Australia, and to Zimbabwe, South Africa and to England in 2004.  It was as if Hooper, who eventually self-destructed, and Lara were playing musical chairs, even though both had also been injured along the way.
During this period, upheaval and greed became more prevalent and relevant than cricket.
Then, probably the most reluctant captain ever for West Indies, Shiv Chanderpaul, was elected.  In 2005, his team lost to South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, then to Sri Lanka.  By 2006, Lara was back again, losing to India and Pakistan.
In 2007, Ramnaresh Sarwan became captain to try to alleviate the continuous pain.  He promptly became seriously injured, allowing Darren Ganga to deputize.  By the end of 2007, for South Africa, Chris Gayle was elected captain, to be succeeded now by Sammy.
That brings us to now.  What happens next, for West Indies captaincy, is anyone’s guess!
Enjoy!

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