By Tony Becca - On The Boundary 
THERE IS a popular saying, it is better late than never, and after turning a blind eye on it for so long, after sitting by and doing little or nothing about it, it is good to see that the West Indies Cricket Board has finally accepted that indiscipline is a problem in West Indies cricket and has now decided to do something about it.
In recent times, the West Indies team has not been doing well and while there are many reasons for the poor showing, the reason, the main reason, is the indiscipline that has surfaced in West Indies cricket.
To many fans, the reasons for the poor performances are simple. To them, the team is short of talent and, on top of that, the selectors make too many mistakes in the selection of the team.
That, however, is not so - certainly not as far as talent is concerned.
Although the really gifted players, players like George Headley, Frank Worrell, Everton Weekes, Clyde Walcott, Gary Sobers, Rohan Kanhai, Viv Richards and Brian Lara, Sonny Ramadhin, Alfred Valentine, Lance Gibbs, Wes Hall, Andy Roberts, Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh do not come along every day, talent is not confined to one generation and West Indies cricket today is certainly blessed with some talented batsmen and bowlers.
The problem, however, is that the talent of today is being wasted, it is not being developed to the level where it becomes the kind of skill necessary for performance at the highest level, and although there are other reasons for that, the problem lies mostly with the players themselves.
They are too indisciplined.
A indisciplined cricketer is one who is not dedicated to the game, who does train and practice in order to develop his skill and to concentrate for long periods. He is one who has no pride and to whom it matters little if he performs or not, he is one who does not try to do his best every time and he is one who, after failing to perform, does not make a special attempt to get himself ready so that he will perform next time, and there are too many like that in West Indies cricket at all levels.
Once upon a time, cricketers at all levels used to train and practice regularly. Today, that is not so. Today, players at club level, at first-class level and even at Test level train and practice as little as possible, they find every excuse not to attend organised net sessions and training camps, they seem content with mediocrity to the extent that they accept failure as simply one of those things, and that is why they remain, most of them, talented but unproductive.
That is why the Board, and as it has promised that it will do, will have to do something about it.
For too long the Board has allowed players to do whatever they want to do - including not listening to the coach, training and practicing at their leisure and unless it does something about it, unless the territorial Boards join in and do something about it, West Indies cricket will never be strong again and the West Indies team will never be as dominant as it used to be.
The players, including those who call themselves professionals, have to change their attitude to the game. It is as simple as that.
How should the West Indies Board and the territorial Boards go about it? They should set strict guidelines and they should tell the selectors not to select those who do not toe the line - regardless of who they may be and even if one is the star player.
Apart from the fact that a star player may be one who performs better than the others in the team but not at his best and not enough to really help the team, apart from the fact that if his attitude is right and he trains and practices he may perform at his best and help the team to perform, it should be remembered that one bad apple can spoil the whole barrel.
By identifying indiscipline as one of the things affecting West Indies cricket, the Board, the same Board that sacked coaches like Rohan Kanhai and Andy Roberts without listening to what they were saying, at last has hit the nail on the head.
It now needs to act - and decisively at that.
